Chinese Presence in the Balkans - Old Allies, New Ties

• Author: Marsela Musabelliu
• Position: School of International Relations, Xiamen University, PRC
• Pages: 39-49

European Journal of Economics, Law and Social Sciences

IIPCCL Publishing, Graz-Austria

Vol. 1 No. 1

January 2017

ISSN 2519-1284

Acces online at www.iipccl.org

39

Chinese Presence in the Balkans - Old Allies, New Ties

PhD (C.) Marsela Musabelliu

School of International Relations

Xiamen University, PRC

Abstract

The previous two and a half decades have seen the Balkan countries proceed with their move

from basically centrally-planned economies, towards an undeniable open market philosophy

for all governments of the area. The region has generally outperformed many developing

countries nearby, driven by trade growth, large infl ows of investment and private consumption.

This ongoing process of modernization has been paramount to developing a manufacturing

base to satisfy growing EU demand for cheap manufactured goods. EU was and remains the

main source of FDIs and fi rst trading partner of the Balkan countries, but we observe in the

last years an always growing infl uence of Chinese presence in the region. China's exchange

relations with Southeastern Europe at fi rst centered on creating trade with the Balkan’s biggest

markets, and a er that, Be ing based investments went on with the li ler ones. Peculiar

here is the fact that Be ing has aimed at boosting exports and fl owing investments in a time

when no other country would do so: immediately a er the fi nancial crisis of 2008. Despite

these positive trends, the region remains very diverse with respect to income, standards

of education/healthcare and infrastructure. The countries under analysis in this paper are:

Albania, Montenegro, Macedonia, Bulgaria, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Slovenia, Croatia

and Romania. 1 This paper endeavors to evaluate the real impact of People’s Republic of China

in the economic and political stances of the 21st century on the aforementioned countries.

Keywords: Balkans, China, Cross trade, Foreign Direct Investments, Cooperation Mechanisms,

One Belt One road.

The Balkans economy in their complex historical and political context

From the enormous realm of the O oman Turks to the breaking down of Yugoslavia,

national fringes inside the Balkans have changed drastically throughout the years.

Following the collapse of the Yugoslav federation in the early 1990s, the region was

set ablaze by a decade of war and confl ict (Medlico , Farrar, 2008). But many things

changed since then, and most of the disorders worn away and all these countries

peoples, are eager to prosper. Even today there is not a very strict denomination of the

area and which the countries are that belongs to the term. In order to appear the ‘issue’

even more discombobulating, the same name ‘Balkans’ is not the only denominations

used. Plenty refer to it as South East Europe. In here countries frequently included

are, Serbia, Macedonia, Montenegro, Croatia, Bulgaria, Bosnia and Herzegovina and

1 The initial intent was to include also Kosovo’s economic performance on attraction of FDIs and trade part-

ners; unfortunately, there are no available sources (ex. World Bank Database, IMF yearbook, MOFOCO, etc)

on real fi gures to evaluate. Furthermore, in some scholars’ opinion, Romania is not nominated as part of the

Balkans, but for the purpose of this study Romania will be part of the analysis. As well as Greece is defi nitely

known as a Balkan country, but again, for the purpose of this study and the perspective of a group with some

common background, Greece will be left out.