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.

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.

Energy Cooperation Under the Belt and Road Initiative: Implications for Global Energy Governance

2019 ◽  
Vol 20 (2-3) ◽  
pp. 243-258 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kaho Yu
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Belt And Road Initiative ◽  
Global Energy ◽  
Energy Cooperation ◽  
Investment Protection ◽  
Multilateral Cooperation ◽  
Development Framework ◽  
Energy Governance ◽  
Belt And Road ◽  
The Belt And Road

Abstract This article discusses the implications of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) on energy cooperation between China and other Eurasian countries and their ramifications for global energy governance. As a development framework with strong geopolitical and geo-economical dimensions, the BRI aims to promote interconnectivity and cooperation in the areas of infrastructure, policy, trade, finance, and culture between Eurasian countries. The implementation of the BRI is expected to involve large-scale investment, infrastructural construction, and industrial integration in the energy sector. The need for investment protection and the management of transnational projects can further promote multilateral cooperation (and therefore multilateral institutions) between China and its Eurasian neighbours. This article demonstrates that, although the attitudes of the Chinese authorities towards global energy governance are complex, the BRI could change China’s energy cooperation in Eurasia into more of a regional and multilateral engagement strategy than is currently the case.

scholarly journals Belt and Road Initiative: Five Years on Implementation and Reflection

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 1-10
Author(s):  
Biliang Hu
Keyword(s):  
Infrastructure Development ◽  
Belt And Road Initiative ◽  
Agenda 2030 ◽  
Belt And Road ◽  
World Economic ◽  
Common Interests ◽  
The Common ◽  
Set Up ◽  
The Belt And Road ◽  
World Development

This article summarizes the implementation of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), which was carried out 5 years ago. To date the basic institutional framework has been set up, some key infrastructural projects launched; joint development zones established and supporting systems have been set up to ensure the smooth infrastructure development of BRI. This article also explains the important factors why China proposed and implemented the initiative: accelerating world economic growth particularly for the developing countries, promoting economic globalization, improving global governance, and supporting UN Agenda 2030 for sustainable development. Based on the 5 years’ experience of the Belt and Road implementation, the initiative reflects correctly the mega trend of world development and global cooperation, as well as the common interests of China and other relevant participating countries. A promising future for the initiative is most likely; however, careful feasibility study for investments is required to manage debt risk well for both the investors and the receivers of the investments.

scholarly journals Strategic Responses of Advanced Economies to the Belt and Road Initiative

2018 ◽  
Vol 04 (03) ◽  
pp. 381-399 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jason Young
Keyword(s):  
Developing Economies ◽  
The United States ◽  
Infrastructure Development ◽  
Belt And Road Initiative ◽  
The European Union ◽  
International Affairs ◽  
Political Values ◽  
Advanced Economies ◽  
Belt And Road ◽  
The Belt And Road

Responses to the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) have been mixed. Many commentators have welcomed the opportunity for infrastructure development and projects to build economic, political and social connectivity across the region. Others have been openly critical or slow to formulate a clear position. In general, advanced economies have responded less positively than developing economies. This paper employs a constructivist approach to interpret responses to the BRI in advanced economies through analysis of commentary in the United States, the European Union, Japan, Australia and New Zealand. It identifies a diversity of responses within and among these economies and a strong ideational coherence in the frameworks used to assess the BRI. It is concluded that the reception of Chinese-promoted concepts in international affairs, like the BRI, remains challenging due to the dominance of liberal and realist assessments and the accompanying political values. This suggests a need for greater intellectual engagement and more substantial feedback between China and the advanced economies, so as to open the way for a long overdue regional conversation on how development is conceptualized and co-created in a region with diverse approaches to regional economic policy.

scholarly journals China’s One Belt and One Road Initiative and Outward Chinese Foreign Direct Investment in Europe

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (24) ◽  
pp. 7055 ◽  
Author(s):  
Degong Ma ◽  
Chun Lei ◽  
Farid Ullah ◽  
Raza Ullah ◽  
Qadar Bakhsh Baloch
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Direct Investment ◽  
Direct Investment ◽  
Negative Impact ◽  
Positive Impact ◽  
European Countries ◽  
Belt And Road Initiative ◽  
Upward Trend ◽  
Belt And Road ◽  
Chinese Foreign Direct Investment ◽  
The Belt And Road

For the last few years, the execution of the Belt and Road Initiative (hereinafter referred to as the BRI) and China’s outward foreign direct investment (hereinafter referred to as OFDI) in Europe have seen a significant upward trend. For our current paper, we collected empirical data pertaining to China’s OFDI and foreign trade (gathered from 21 European countries in the trade gravity market for the period 2003 to 2016) that yielded the following results: (a) China’s OFDI to Europe has significantly promoted international trade between China and European countries. On the other hand, OFDI has equally promoted China’s exports to European counties, while it has not encouraged China’s imports from European counties. (b) The Belt and Road Initiative has had a positive impact on China’s exports to European counties and has had a negative impact on China’s imports from European counties. (c) There have been both complementary trade impacts and substitution trade impacts when China has directly invested in European countries, but the complementary impact was much stronger than its substitution impact in the chosen sample period.

scholarly journals China’s Belt and Road Initiative and large-scale outbound investment

2018 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 219-240 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shen Kunrong ◽  
Jin Gang
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Belt And Road Initiative ◽  
Chinese Enterprises ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Cultural Exchanges ◽  
Institutional Differences ◽  
Belt And Road ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Enterprise Investment ◽  
The Belt And Road

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to comprehensively examine the influence of formal and informal institutional differences on enterprise investment margin, mode and result. Design/methodology/approach This paper is based on 2,440 micro samples of large-scale outbound investment from 609 Chinese enterprises from the years 2005 to 2016. Findings The study has found that formal institutional differences have little impact on investment scale, but significantly affect investment diversification. In order to avoid the management risks brought by formal institutional differences, enterprises tend to a full ownership structure. However, the choice between greenfield investment and cross-border mergers and acquisitions is not affected by formal institutional differences. In contrast, the impact of informal institutional differences is more extensive. Both formal and informal institutional differences significantly increase the probability of investment failure. Further research found that the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) bridges the formal institutional differences. Originality/value The study concludes that developing the BRI, especially cultural exchanges with countries alongside the Belt and Road, will help enterprises to “go global” faster and better.

scholarly journals Environmental Impacts of Infrastructure Development under the Belt and Road Initiative

Environments ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 6 (6) ◽  
pp. 72 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hoong Chen Teo ◽  
Alex Mark Lechner ◽  
Grant W. Walton ◽  
Faith Ka Shun Chan ◽  
Ali Cheshmehzangi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Impacts ◽  
Social Economic ◽  
Environmental Issues ◽  
Infrastructure Development ◽  
Belt And Road Initiative ◽  
Political Factors ◽  
Belt And Road ◽  
Interdisciplinary Framework ◽  
Spatiotemporal Scales ◽  
The Belt And Road

China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is the largest infrastructure scheme in our lifetime, bringing unprecedented geopolitical and economic shifts far larger than previous rising powers. Concerns about its environmental impacts are legitimate and threaten to thwart China’s ambitions, especially since there is little precedent for analysing and planning for environmental impacts of massive infrastructure development at the scale of BRI. In this paper, we review infrastructure development under BRI to characterise the nature and types of environmental impacts and demonstrate how social, economic and political factors can shape these impacts. We first address the ambiguity around how BRI is defined. Then we describe our interdisciplinary framework for considering the nature of its environmental impacts, showing how impacts interact and aggregate across multiple spatiotemporal scales creating cumulative impacts. We also propose a typology of BRI infrastructure, and describe how economic and socio-political drivers influence BRI infrastructure and the nature of its environmental impacts. Increasingly, environmental policies associated with BRI are being designed and implemented, although there are concerns about how these will translate effectively into practice. Planning and addressing environmental issues associated with the BRI is immensely complex and multi-scaled. Understanding BRI and its environment impacts is the first step for China and countries along the routes to ensure the assumed positive socio-economic impacts associated with BRI are sustainable.

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