Economic outcomes of the 17+1 Platform from the Chinese Point of View

Zakić, Katarina (2020) Economic outcomes of the 17+1 Platform from the Chinese Point of View. In: Chhina in World and Regional Politics. History and Modernity. Institute for Far Eastern Studies, Russian Academy for Science, pp. 258-304. ISBN 978-5-8381-0355-0

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Abstract

Central and Eastern European countries (CEECs) had generally good diplomatic relations with the People’s Republic of China in the late 1980s due to similar patterns of development and political systems. Circumstances changed somewhat during the 1990s due to the political and economic transformation in Europe, which placed some strain on this relationship. The CEECs were preoccupied with their transition from command to neoliberal economy, while at the same time endeavouring to accede to the European Union (EU). Cooperation between the two sides changed direction once more after the global financial crisis in 2009, which resulted in greater Chinese presence in the region, both on the political and the economic level. The 17+1 cooperation platform (formerly known as ‘16+1’) was officially established in 2012 with the primary aim of improving China’s bilateral relations with each of the CEECs. Late 2013 saw the creation of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), which the 17+1 platform was subsumed into. The main aim of this paper is to present the results of economic cooperation between China and member countries of the 17+1 cooperation platform from the Chinese point of view. The paper will use data from the Chinese Statistical Yearbook, and, in summarising the results achieved, will examine the views of Chinese authors. The main parameters that will be analysed are trade, foreign direct investments, and Chinese investment in development projects in the CEECs. Having quantitatively and qualitatively analysed Chinese official data and positions on economic cooperation between China and the CEECs, the author concludes that China has every reason to be — and indeed is — satisfied with the results achieved. Some aspects of this collaboration (trade and development projects) have been more successful than others (foreign direct investment), but the overall results are good.

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