Project description DEENESFRITPL 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. Show the project objective Hide the project objective Objective REDEFINE will examine what China’s rise means for how we understand global development and, specifically, Europe’s 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, China’s move westwards radically questions the meanings and loci of development. REDEFINE’s 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. REDEFINE’s 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. Fields of science social sciences Programme(s) H2020-EU.1.1. - EXCELLENT SCIENCE - European Research Council (ERC) Main Programme Topic(s) ERC-2019-ADG - ERC Advanced Grant Call for proposal ERC-2019-ADG See other projects for this call Funding Scheme ERC-ADG - Advanced Grant Host institution THE OPEN UNIVERSITY Net EU contribution € 2 497 726,00 Address WALTON HALL MK7 6AA Milton Keynes United Kingdom See on map Region South East (England) Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Milton Keynes Activity type Higher or Secondary Education Establishments Links Contact the organisation Opens in new window Website Opens in new window Participation in EU R&I programmes Opens in new window HORIZON collaboration network Opens in new window Total cost € 2 497 726,00 Beneficiaries (1) Sort alphabetically Sort by Net EU contribution Expand all Collapse all THE OPEN UNIVERSITY United Kingdom Net EU contribution € 2 497 726,00 Address WALTON HALL MK7 6AA Milton Keynes See on map Region South East (England) Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Milton Keynes Activity type Higher or Secondary Education Establishments Links Contact the organisation Opens in new window Website Opens in new window Participation in EU R&I programmes Opens in new window HORIZON collaboration network Opens in new window Total cost € 2 497 726,00
