China and Eastern Europe: Different Trajectories in Bilateral Relations

This webinar will present the economic and personal relations between Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) and China. We will introduce the “17+1” mechanism, which represents the core of China’s cooperation strategy in the CEE region and point out its shortcomings. We will mainly focus on two countries, which represent two different entities in the region: Serbia, which is a non-EU member state (MS), and the Czech Republic, which is a MS. The discussion will allow us to understand what was the rationale behind China’s incursion in the CEE, and how this process has shaped the EU foreign policy towards China.

Recommended readings by Mirela Petkova:  

• Zweers, W. et al. (2020), China and the EU in the Western Balkans: A zero-sum game?;
• Petkova, M. (2020), Fragmented Screening of Chinese Investments in CEE;
• Petkova. M. (2019), A Dragon in a China Shop: Why China Should Abandon 17+1.

Our speaker will be Mirela Petkova. Mirela holds a BA in International Relations and Organizations from the University of Groningen. Her research focuses on China's foreign policy, in particular China's global trade, investment, infrastructure practices, EU-China relations, and China’s sub-regional diplomacy in Europe. She was a junior researcher at Clingendael, and she has also completed internships at the European Institute for Asian Studies (Belgium) and the Administration of the President of the Republic of Bulgaria. She is currently a Data Research Analyst for Energy Monitor at New Statesman Media Group.

Our moderator will be Pau Álvarez Aragonès, from our Webinars Team. He is a BA student in Political Science and Global Studies at Pompeu Fabra University (UPF), in Barcelona. Beyond his academic background, Pau has experience as a conference moderator. He is also interested in the fields of global governance, international organizations, European institutions and Public Affairs consultancy.