Project description
Examining the rationale behind Chinese investments in Europe
Europe and China have been long-time trading partners. From access to new technologies, high-tech assets and knowledge to broader commercial access into the European market, China’s interests in Europe are many. Today, China is the EU’s largest source of imports. What is more, China considers Europe fertile ground for new infrastructure investments. The EU-funded REDEFINE project will answer the following questions: What is the rationale behind Chinese investments in Europe, and what are the geopolitical dynamics surrounding these financing streams? How are the projects structured and how do they interface with national and local development policy? Using an assemblage methodology, the project will identify project-by-project effects. Case studies will be conducted in the UK, Germany, Greece and Hungary.
Objective
REDEFINE will examine what Chinas rise means for how we understand global development and, specifically, Europes place in it. After 15 years of going out to access raw materials and new markets, often in the global South, China is making assertive moves into developed economies, which were boosted by the Belt and Road Initiative linking China to Europe. At the same time, many European economies stagnated following the 2008 financial crisis with governments cutting infrastructure investment and seeking alternative sources of finance. China now sees Europe as fertile ground for new infrastructure investment, yet many European firms and governments are ill-equipped to deal with these political and economic changes. The first wave of Chinese internationalisation into the global South has been analysed largely from the perspective of international Development Studies. In the current phase, Chinas move westwards radically questions the meanings and loci of development. REDEFINEs innovation is to use insights from international development to interrogate Chinese engagement in the heart of Europe and by doing so re-orient the Eurocentric debates in the social sciences around how we define and delimit development, who drives these processes, and what it means for societies affected by such investments. REDEFINEs aims require a disaggregated approach to unpack project-by-project effects, which will be undertaken using an assemblage methodology. Through comparative, ethnographic case studies in the UK, Germany, Greece and Hungary REDEFINE will produce fine-grained analysis to understand the rationales for Chinese investment in Europe, the geopolitical dynamics surrounding these financing streams, the structuring of projects, and how they interface with national and local development policy. By better understanding how investment deals operate, REDEFINE will connect Chinese and European government and corporate actors in order to influence their strategies and practices.
Programme(s)
Topic(s)
Funding Scheme
ERC-ADG - Advanced GrantHost institution
MK7 6AA Milton Keynes
United Kingdom