Authors

Discussion

Along with the current restructuring of international relations accelerated by Sino-American competition and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, scholars and policymakers are increasingly interested in how China is shaping and advancing its vision of the global order and how the targeted states respond to it. So far, research on this topic evolved around case studies focusing on individual states and specific regions, but no analysis has systematically focused on several regions with a former socialist heritage. 

Contributing to the above-mentioned discussions, our research offers a systemic comparison of China’s agency in two regions. Addressing Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) and Central Asia (CA), it juxtaposes two China-initiated multilateral frameworks, namely the China-Central and Eastern Europe (16+1) and the China-Central Asia (C+C5) platforms in order to question the consistency of China’s approaches to the spaces of the former Eastern bloc. 

To reach our goal, we first look at who and what shapes China’s vision and knowledge of these regions. Then we examine the mechanics of the two platforms and look into the relevant China’s agency in CEE and CA at both national and subnational levels. Finally, we assess how certain actors (governmental and local officials, scholars) frame and articulate their visions of engagement with China, and what are the specific ideological, political and institutional factors that shape their responses. Our work leverages desk-bond analysis of official sources from China, CEE and CA, original data on local implementation of related initiatives and polices, and fieldwork and interviews in the examined regions. By focusing on China’s agency in former socialist regions we shed light on the manner in which China adjusts the ideological and political features of its vision of the global order according to the target and to its responses.