Description:

China's re-emergence as a leading international player is one of the most significant events of our time. Parallel to the rapid increase in China's economic, military and diplomatic capabilities, a debate has arisen about its contribution to international governance. Are we dealing with a state that cooperates with, complies with, qualifies, violates or subverts existing international norms?

This question is becoming increasingly relevant due to Beijing's substantial increase in influence within the international community so far this century, its adoption of an increasingly proactive and assertive foreign policy, and predictions that these processes will only intensify in the coming decades. If we add to this the questioning of the current liberal order by some Western countries, this issue becomes pressing, especially with regard to international financial, trade and climate governance.

It is equally important to understand the new instruments of Chinese foreign policy to present itself as a normative power, as their impact is such that it forces the Spanish and European Union public authorities, as well as the business sector, to take a position. In this regard, it is urgent to clarify the scope of the Belt and Road Initiative, colloquially known as the New Silk Road, as it is the Asian giant's most ambitious foreign policy initiative and has immense potential impact, especially on the Eurasian continent.

In this context, this project attempts to answer three research questions:

- How does Beijing seek to influence global governance through the Belt and Road Initiative?

- How do China's national interests, its internal political forces and international law itself affect this process?

- What implications does this have for the interests of Spain and the European Union?

In narrowing down our analysis, we have chosen to focus on the dimensions of global governance that have a more direct impact on Europe (financial, commercial, and climate). We have also decided to focus on the Belt and Road Initiative in order to seek empirical evidence that allows us to illustrate how China positions itself in relation to international norms and standards in the aforementioned fields. There are four reasons for this, all directly linked to the overall objectives of the project: four of the five pillars of the New Silk Road (infrastructure and connectivity, public policy coordination, trade, investment and financial integration) concern the areas of global governance addressed by our project; it is the flagship initiative of Xi Jinping's foreign policy; it is a strategy that is also intertwined with his domestic policy; and there is considerable controversy within the European Union about how to relate to this project.

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Publications:

Dissemination of project results.

• Publications in peer-reviewed journals directly related to the project results.

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-    Esteban, M., y Armanini, U. (2022). The Limits of China’s Engagement in the Mediterranean: Role Conflict and Emerging Mistrust in Spain-China Relations. Mediterranean Politics, 27(2). http://doi.org/10.1080/13629395.2022.2035136
-    Esteban, M., y Olivié, I. (2021). China and Western Aid Norms in the Belt and Road: Normative Clash or Convergence? A Case Study on Ethiopia. Journal of Contemporary China, 1-19. https://doi.org/10.1080/10670564.2021.1945739
-    Esteban, M. (2021). The CAI as seen from Spain: a positive agreement with uncertain implementation. Asia Europe Journal, 1-6. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10308-021-00633-3
-    Zhou, W., y Esteban, M. (2018). Beyond balancing: China’s approach towards the belt and road initiative. Journal of Contemporary China, 27(112), 487-501. https://doi.org/10.1080/10670564.2018.1433476
-    Lin, Y. (2020). ‘Made in China 2025’and China’s cross-border strategic M&As in OECD countries. Journal of Chinese Economic and Business Studies, 18(2), 91-114. https://doi.org/10.1080/14765284.2020.1759360
-    Esteban, M., y Armanini, U. (2019). L’Espagne: le chemin vers la Chine passe par l’Europe. Confluences Mediterranee, (2), 119-134. https://doi.org/10.3917/come.109.0119
Total publications: 6

 

• Publications in books/book chapters

-    Esteban, M., y Lin,Y. (Eds.). (2023). China and International Norms: Evidence from the Belt and Road Initiative. Routledge. ISBN: 978-1-032-28970-0.
-    Esteban, M. (2021). Spain’s Views of China: The Economy Is the Key. In European Perceptions of China and Perspectives on the Belt and Road Initiative (pp. 40-57). Brill.
-    Esteban, M., & Touza, L. L. (2021). EU-China cooperation amidst fragmented climate leadership. In Europe in an Era of Growing Sino-American Competition: Coping with an Unstable Triangle (pp. 170-188). Routledge.
-    Esteban, M., y Armanini, U. (2021). COVID-19 and EU-China relations. In The European Union and China’s Belt and Road (pp. 133-150). Routledge.
-    Esteban, M., & Li, Y. (2019). Motivations, actors, and implications for the New Silk Road trains. In How China’s Silk Road Initiative Is Changing the Global Economic Landscape. (pp. 37-54). Routledge.
-    Esteban, M. (2018). The China–Pakistan Economic Corridor: Lessons for the New Silk Road. In China’s New Silk Road (pp. 104-119). Routledge.
-    Otero Iglesias, M. (2018). La diplomacia monetaria china en la nueva Ruta de la Seda: el Banco Asiático de Inversiones en Infraestructuras y otros bancos de desarrollo. En El Papel de España en la Nueva Ruta de la Seda (pp. 95-120). Aranzadi.
Total books: 1
Total book chapters: 6

 

• Open access publications directly related to the project results.

-     Esteban, M. (2018). Sri Lanka and great-power competition in the Indo-Pacific: a Belt and Road failure?. Análisis del Real Instituto Elcano, (129).
-    Yue, L. (2018). Economic ‘highway’ with three speed tracks and destinations between China and CEE. China–CEE Institute Working Paper, (14).

 

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