The importance of Chinese investments in the One Belt, One Road Initiative

Dimitrijević, Duško and Jokanović, Nikola (2017) The importance of Chinese investments in the One Belt, One Road Initiative. In: Initiatives of the New Silk Road - Achievements and Challenges. Institute for International Politics and Economics, Belgrade, pp. 360-390. ISBN 978‐86‐7067‐246‐8

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Abstract

The 16+1 cooperation initiative, involving the People’s Republic of China and the 16 countries of Central and Eastern Europe, was officially launched in 2012. Each of the countries has its own cooperation priorities, but the majority of the investment projects which are part of the initiative is in the areas of transport infrastructure, agriculture, energy, logistics, health, etc. This cooperation initiative is complementary to China’s landmark foreign policy project, One Belt, One Road; together, they determine China’s attitude towards these 16 countries. Firstly, this paper will view the main sectors of Chinese investment throughout the countries of Central and Eastern Europe since 2012. This will be followed by the investment projects which have been completed, as well as the most recent announced projects and their estimated value. Five years after the official launching of the 16+1 cooperation initiative, it is clear that not all countries in the region have benefited equally from the initiative ‐ while some have maintained enthusiasm due to a large number of implemented projects and tangible results, the others are still waiting to see tax revenue flowing into their budgets and are growing sceptical. The authors point out that dominant countries such as Hungary, Poland, the Czech Republic, Romania, Serbia or Bulgaria have seen most of the benefits; although it is unrealistic to expect equal benefits to all 16 countries of Central and Eastern Europe, the initiative will be fully successful only if major Chinese companies gain a stronghold in those countries in which they were absent until now.

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