Cooperation and Exchange to Build Consensus

On April 26, 2012, Cooperation between China and Central and Eastern European Countries (China-CEEC Cooperation) was officially launched as a cross-regional cooperation platform when the first meeting between leaders of China and CEECs was held in Warsaw, Poland. As a researcher participating in extensive exchange with people from all walks of life in CEECs, I have greatly benefited from the cooperation platform. It has not only broadened my research on Europe, but also deepened my understanding of the importance and complexity of intercultural communication.

CEECs, located in the heart of the Eurasian continent, have witnessed how Eastern and Western civilizations merged, so they tend to feature rich culture and great inclusiveness. Essentially, the concept of CEEC implies a marriage of physical geography and geopolitics. Ten years ago, most CEECs did not share clear regional and cultural awareness and their internal diversity and differences far outweighed commonalities. However, China-CEEC Cooperation has reasonably improved economic awareness and self-identity in the region, which was not achieved overnight. Initially, developing a working definition of CEEC was a frequent discussion during exchange with scholars and officials from CEECs which offered us a glimpse into various self-identification, exemplified by “Central Europe,” “Southeast Europe,” “Baltic states,” and “the countries of the Western Balkans.” While not changing such self-identifications, the continuous development of China-CEEC Cooperation, especially marked by a series of mechanisms such as leaders’ meetings, has enabled the vast majority of CEECs to accept the broader CEEC concept since it can better reflect the new positioning of regional economic integration.

Pragmatic cooperation between China and CEECs aims to promote economic cooperation between all parties on the basis of sound political relations and market principles to foster prospects of mutual benefits and win-win results. As emerging markets in the developed European region, most CEECs are still navigating the transition to market economies. For Chinese companies and investors, CEECs offer lower market access thresholds and greater growth potential compared to other European countries, coupled with issues such as imperfect law systems and unstable market returns however. For another, CEECs have long considered their traditional trade markets and investment sources to be in surrounding regions and the European Union, so the huge market opportunities offered by the Asia-Pacific region, the emerging center of the world economy, are quite attractive. But the geographical distance and weak economic correlation present potential hurdles as well.

While communicating with think tanks and scholars from CEECs, we tend to listen to their views patiently to get an idea of their information sources and basic logic. Then, we put ourselves in their shoes when analyzing problems and engage in joint efforts to find ways out, neither in a condescending nor sycophantic manner. Traditional trade paths, complementary aspects with the Chinese market, immediate benefits, and future prospects are all topics discussed. Such exchange can better serve the purpose of resolving differences through communication in contrast to direct avoidance or rejection.

The most touching moments always involve interpersonal communication in our daily work. They testify that “amity between people holds the key to sound state-to-state relations” and function as a natural extension of cross-border exchange, narrowing distance and promoting consensus. Most of the people we have engaged with in CEECs hold respect, appreciation, and admiration for China, but also tend to consider China mysterious and distant due to a lack of understanding, especially ordinary people who have been heavily affected by Western news coverage. So, our daily exchange involves continuous efforts to guide them towards a more accurate understanding of China through dialogue and cooperation.

For example, a Romanian scholar who is friendly to China once expressed hope to get involved in exchanging development experience of the two countries and took the initiative to introduce Romania’s ups and downs between the Cold War and the post-Cold War period. After expressing our understanding and objective evaluation, we outlined China’s development since the start of its reform and opening-up in the late 1970s based on full understanding of our own national conditions. We talked about the great achievements China has made as well as the difficulties it faced in the process. The scholar came to a natural conclusion that it is necessary to respect diverse development paths and draw wisdom from China’s successful experience.

Against the context of pandemic isolation and drastic changes in geopolitics, China-CEEC Cooperation will embrace both new opportunities and challenges in the next decade. Since CEECs are still important gateways for Chinese enterprises and investors to access the vast European market, it is necessary to continue conducting in-depth exchange on key and difficult issues in economic and trade cooperation. Although some CEECs have expressed concerns about the security of supply chains and industrial chains, the prospects for cooperation are still attractive considering the continuous opening-up trend of China’s economy and the great resilience and complementarity of China-CEEC economic and trade cooperation.