scholarly journals China’s Belt and Road Initiative Extension to Central and Eastern European Countries - Sixteen Nations, Five Summits, Many Challenges

2017 ◽  
Vol 23 (78) ◽  
pp. 57-76 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marsela Musabelliu
Keyword(s):  
Global Economy ◽  
European Countries ◽  
Chinese Government ◽  
Eastern European ◽  
Belt And Road Initiative ◽  
International Affairs ◽  
Cooperation Mechanism ◽  
Belt And Road ◽  
Eastern European Countries ◽  
The Belt And Road

Abstract The Belt and Road Initiative proclaimed by President Xi in 2013, a strategy developed by the Chinese government, is very important to China but is not confined to China. In order for the initiative to be successful it needs to be embraced by the countries on the terrestrial and maritime route indicated in the plan. In the late 1980s Deng Xiaoping proposed to integrate Socialism with Chinese Characteristics (Zhongguo Tese Shehui Zhuyi, ) into global capitalism and in the 1990s the Jiang Zemin leadership initiated the Going out policy (Zouchuqu Zhanlue, ) – the current Belt and Road Initiative is China’s continuation in implementing those policies into actual deeds. China’s accession to WTO in 2001 marked China’s full integration into the global economy and since then the People’s Republic of China (PRC) has become the largest trading partner for more than 180 countries. The Xi-Li administration has been extremely proactive since it was established in 2012; from that year on, Chinese behavior in international affairs has gained an ever-growing role as a forger of economic and diplomatic ties between countries. The primary example of this behavior is the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). As every serious foreign policy plan, the BRI is an accumulation of various other initiatives. For example, the cooperation mechanism “16+1”, with which the PRC has approached Central and Eastern European Countries (CEEC), can be integrated under the BRI. This paper analizes the “16+1” China-CEEC cooperation mechanism in the context of the bigger BRI initiative, and tries to comprehend the economic and political factors intertwined with its implementation.

scholarly journals Central and Eastern European Countries Toward the Belt and Road Initiative: The Role of 16+1 Initiative

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 11-36
Author(s):  
Monika Bąk
Keyword(s):  
European Countries ◽  
Foreign Direct Investments ◽  
Eastern European ◽  
Belt And Road Initiative ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Belt And Road ◽  
Bilateral Cooperation ◽  
Eastern European Countries ◽  
The Belt And Road

The 16+1 concept (including 16 Central and Eastern European countries and China) is complementary to the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). This article explores different aspects of cooperation between China and Central and Eastern European Countries (CEEC), focusing on the perception of cooperation through the prism of foreign direct investments (FDI) and individual Central and Eastern Europe-16 (CEE-16) countries (bilateral links between China and a given country against the background of CEE-16). This article is an attempt to present and interpret facts and issues related to cooperation as well as to explore rational applications in terms of future forms of cooperation. It is clear that there is a need to develop more effective mechanisms of cooperation, using the established secretariats and other institutions beyond them. The article also makes recommendations for bilateral cooperation between China and individual countries, including actions at the regional level. Moreover, the postulates resulting from this analysis indicate the need to harmonize and improve the availability of economic data relating to economic cooperation within the framework of the 16+1 initiative, especially in the context of the group of European countries outside the European Union (EU).

scholarly journals Eastern Europe in the Policy of ‘Belt And Road’: Is There a Place for Ukraine?

2019 ◽  
pp. 647-654
Author(s):  
Viktor Konstantynov
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Eastern Europe ◽  
Central And Eastern Europe ◽  
European Countries ◽  
Eastern European ◽  
Belt And Road Initiative ◽  
Belt And Road ◽  
Eastern European Countries ◽  
The Belt And Road

The article examines China’s policy in Eastern Europe within the framework of the ‘Belt and Road Initiative (BRI)’. The level of Ukraine’s involvement in the cooperation within the framework of this initiative and China’s policy in general is analyzed. It is stressed that in recent years, the ‘Belt and Road’ Initiative is not only economic but also political and security project of China. The main purpose of the initiative is to consolidate the role of Beijing as one of the leaders in the modern world. It is noted that Europe is becoming increasingly important in China’s foreign policy. How-ever, in this region, it cannot use the usual strategy of wielding its influence, worked out in Asia and Africa. Therefore, Central and Eastern Europe, new EU members and candidate countries are considered as objects for spreading Chinese influence in the Old World. The article identifies the principal reasons for Beijing’s particular attention to Central and Eastern Europe. The main one is the relative weakness of state and political institutions and their vulnerability to financial and political instruments of the spread of Chinese influence. Also, the importance of the European Union as a market for Chinese goods continues to grow, therefore making the transit through the territory of the Eastern European countries increasingly important for Beijing. The significance of the ‘16+1’ format on the formation of a specific role of China in the region is considered. It is argued that the formal ground of the absence of Ukraine in the Chinese strategy in Central and Eastern Europe is that our state is not involved in the ‘16+1’ format. However, bilateral relations with Ukraine do not differ from those with Central and Eastern European countries. An important factor is the lack of Ukraine’s influence on political decisions of the EU, which is the main criterion for China. This accounts for the insufficient level of Ukraine’s involvement in the cooperation within the framework of the ‘Belt and Road’ Initiative. Keywords: ‘Belt and Road’ Initiative, the People’s Republic of China, Eastern Europe, European Union, Ukraine, politics.

scholarly journals Cooperation between China and Central and Eastern European states within the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative and the ‘17+1’ mechanism

2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 241-253
Author(s):  
Sergey Yun ◽  
◽  
Vitaly Pakulin ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
European Countries ◽  
Infrastructure Development ◽  
Belt And Road Initiative ◽  
Main Hypothesis ◽  
Trade Routes ◽  
Multilateral Cooperation ◽  
Cooperation Mechanism ◽  
Belt And Road ◽  
The Belt And Road

The Belt and Road initiative (BRI) is a large-scale geo-economic project which is an integral part of China’s contemporary foreign policy. The foundation of this project is the vast network of trade and transport communications by land and sea that encompasses countries of the Eurasian continent as well as Africa. The European destination is a key link of the project: most of the transit ways of the BRI lead to the EU and European countries. The Central and Eastern Europe region (CEE) occupies a special place in China’s strategy of the implementation of the Belt and Road initiative: the countries of this region are located on the main trade routes from China to the most developed European countries. Moreover, the CEE countries are in dire need of investment and infrastructure development. In 2012 China launched a multilateral cooperation mechanism with 16 CEE countries (in 2019 the number of participants increased to 17 due to the accession of Greece). This article aims at analyzing the structure and functioning of the mechanism, key areas of activity within the framework of the Belt and Road initiative, and the problems and prospects of cooperation between China and the CEE countries. The main hypothesis of the work is that China uses the ‘17 + 1’ mechanism as a tool for establishing bilateral cooperation with selected countries of the region. Such an approach evokes criticism from the CEE states, as well as EU institutions. The current situation shows that China needs to make adjustments to its strategy for the implementation of the BRI initiative in the region. The authors used legislation and materials from official websites of EU institutions, China and the CEE countries’ government agencies, statistical data and analytical papers by international organizations, as well as material from news agencies.

Demystifying the Belt and Road Initiative: China’s domestic and non-strategic policy?

2021 ◽  
pp. 205789112110388
Author(s):  
Yuan Jiang
Keyword(s):  
Global Strategy ◽  
Chinese Economy ◽  
Chinese Government ◽  
Belt And Road Initiative ◽  
Xi Jinping ◽  
One Belt One Road ◽  
Belt And Road ◽  
Strategic Policy ◽  
The Difference ◽  
The Belt And Road

The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is a central policy of the Chinese government. The initiative is directly associated with President Xi Jinping, who first put forward the BRI in Kazakhstan and Indonesia in 2013, initially as One Belt One Road. Different from repetitive literature that concludes the BRI as China's global strategy, this article makes a contribution to argue that the BRI is China's domestic and non-strategic policy. To justify this argument, this article analyses how the BRI has been embedded into aspects of Chinese domestic policy by revealing its nexuses with Chinese domestic economy, politics and ideology. To deepen the understanding of the BRI's connection with the Chinese economy, this article explores the link between the BRI and China's supply-side structural reform. Meanwhile, this research demystifies the BRI as a global strategy and the difference between joining and rejecting the BRI to prove the BRI's non-strategic essence. In the end, this article discusses the BRI's far-reaching geopolitical influence.

We Should Push Countries along “Belt and Road Initiative” to Build Green Supply Chain

2018 ◽  
Vol 01 (01) ◽  
pp. 1850006
Author(s):  
Jingyan Fu
Keyword(s):  
Supply Chain ◽  
International Cooperation ◽  
Green Supply Chain ◽  
Chinese Government ◽  
Belt And Road Initiative ◽  
Ecological Benefits ◽  
The People ◽  
Belt And Road ◽  
The Belt And Road

Building a green supply chain in the countries along the “Belt and Road Initiative” (BRI) route will not only generate huge economic and ecological benefits, it will also profit people in these countries and encourage the people in these countries to identify with the BRI as well as advance the development of this Initiative. Therefore, this research suggests the Chinese government taking the lead in jointly building a green supply chain with countries along BRI after the “Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation” in July 2017.

Repositioning China in the Global Education Hierarchy Through the Sino–Foreign Educational Partnerships in the Belt and Road Initiative

2020 ◽  
pp. 162-179
Author(s):  
Jie Gao
Keyword(s):  
Global Education ◽  
Educational Programs ◽  
Chinese Government ◽  
Belt And Road Initiative ◽  
Educational Partnerships ◽  
Ministry Of Education ◽  
History Of ◽  
Belt And Road ◽  
Foreign Education ◽  
The Belt And Road

Chapter 9 explores the roles of Sino–foreign education partnerships (SFEP) within China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), in particular, how it has been shifted from a strategic tool to reform and upgrade China’s domestic higher education sector, to becoming a diplomatic instrument for building connections between China and the regions and countries along the BRI routes. The history of the development of SFEP reveals how policy and regulation have evolved. The shifting paradigm of the Chinese government, through its MOE (Ministry of Education), in regulating SFEP provides a window into the grand transformation of China’s narrative towards its position in the global education hierarchy. China is shifting from the follower/importer of “advanced foreign educational programs,” to a proactive player that builds a platform and framework for educational collaboration in the world. Now, China is becoming an initiator/exporter of its own educational programs and culture along the belt and road.

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