A Pivot to Europe: China's Belt-and-Road Balancing Act

European Institute of Romania, Policy Briefs Series, No. 5 (2017)

Posted: 15 Feb 2018

See all articles by Horia Ciurtin

Horia Ciurtin

Amsterdam Center for International Law; New Strategy Center; European Federation for Investment Law and Arbitration

Date Written: December 4, 2017

Abstract

In the international agora, China is increasingly reaching out to Europe. Driven both by economic necessities and strategic imperatives, a grand design for crossing (and transforming) Asia has been advanced: the Belt-and-Road Initiative. As they share a common (extended) neighbourhood in the Middle East and Central Asia, the two actors’ manner of interaction – cooperative or adversarial – shall define the future of the region. For this reason, the present policy brief evaluates the manner in which China intends to implement the project and how its own goals really correspond to those of the European Union. Moreover, the economic and legal implications of the initiative are put into the larger strategic context, showing how Europe could actually profit and what “red lines” it needs to draw before engaging on the Silk Road along China.

Keywords: Belt-and-Road Initiative, China, European Union, Silk Road, Geoeconomics

JEL Classification: F5

Suggested Citation

Ciurtin, Horia, A Pivot to Europe: China's Belt-and-Road Balancing Act (December 4, 2017). European Institute of Romania, Policy Briefs Series, No. 5 (2017), Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3117659

Horia Ciurtin (Contact Author)

Amsterdam Center for International Law ( email )

P.O. Box 1030
Amsterdam, 1000 BA
Netherlands

HOME PAGE: http://www.uva.nl/en/profile/c/i/h.a.ciurtin/h.a.ciurtin.html

New Strategy Center ( email )

Str. Jiului
Bucharest
Romania

European Federation for Investment Law and Arbitration ( email )

Brussels
Belgium

HOME PAGE: http://efilablog.org

Do you have negative results from your research you’d like to share?

Paper statistics

Abstract Views
427
PlumX Metrics