China’s Balkan Investments Are Paradoxically Speeding Region’s EU Integration

The Western Balkans not only provides China with a convenient foothold inside of Europe but is also in need of infrastructure investment and possesses a well-educated and reasonably priced labor force.

Furthermore, the region's comparatively weaker and looser regulatory policy framework that governs business activity also makes the Western Balkans appealing to Chinese corporations.

The Western Balkans region has already been actively integrated into the China-led "16+1" framework, also known as China-CEE, a grouping which fits into China's BRI strategy. Founded in 2012, the group now includes 17 Central, Eastern and Southern European countries, with Greece recently becoming the latest member (the group is now 17+1).

The Western Balkans has received the dominant share of infrastructure investment among group members, with over half of China's $9.4 billion 2016-2017 infrastructure investment for China-CEE countries going to the countries of the Western Balkans.

The China-CEE has also seen significant investment in cultural ties, including the funding of local media outlets to promote a more positive image of China in the region and the establishment of the Center for Cultural Cooperation and Coordination in North Macedonia in 2018.

Among the six nations of the Western Balkans, Serbia is by far the largest recipient of Chinese infrastructure project lending and investment. According to a 2018 report by the European Investment Bank, out of all China-CEE group members, 29.4 per cent of all major construction funding was earmarked towards Serbia, 20.7 per cent towards Bosnia, and 7.4 per cent towards Montenegro. Serbia received over 1 billion euros in loans to develop a Belgrade-Budapest rail link.

Fulopszallas railway station on...