Sino-European Relations in Greater Eurasia

Abstract

The article considers the phenomenon of European-Chinese cooperation in the context of the transformation of Eurasia as an international region. Particular attention is paid to the development of China’s relations with the countries of Eastern and Central Europe and the Western Balkans; the features of China’s interaction with the countries of Southern Europe are revealed. The paper provides an analysis of factors influencing the correlation and struggle between new trends in the process of the innovation space formation in Eurasia. The role of Europe and China in the development of new transit routes across and around Eurasia is being studied. Its features include a combination of land and sea routes. Europe and China are synergistic within financial, industrial, and e-commerce complementarities. The article investigates the role of Chinese trade and investment in Europe with a particular focus on intensity of the latter toward the industrial heart of Europe: Germany and the Visegrad 4 countries. It highlights the German–Central-Eastern European Manufacturing Core as one of the most competitive industrial bases of Sino-European cooperation. Deepening Sino-European ties across Eurasia, leveraged by new technologies, give the continent integrity in global geo-economic terms. The paper assesses the current evolution of EU – China relations, which expanded greatly in geographic terms and diversity. The article seeks to explain that the interaction between China and Europe has social, economic, and even political dimensions, with potentially long-term implications for the structure of world affairs. Europe and China are the largest entities in Eurasia and in the international system, apart from the United States. The authors conclude that Sino-European reunification is contributing to a new phase in the transformation of Eurasia and to its rising significance in global political and economic governance.