In person icon China in the Mediterranean: A Sea of Opportunities?

Abstract

In 2013, as China became the world’s largest trading nation, overtaking the US, President Xi Jinping unveiled its signature foreign policy to revive the ancient Silk Road under the label One Belt One Road. Rebranded in 2015 as the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), Xi’s plan consists of an ambitious global communication expansion to reinforce China’s links to Southeast Asia, Europe and Africa through networks of land and sea infrastructure projects. As the BRI have been deploying westwards, they have reached the Mediterranean. One of the world centers wherein international trade is being actively reconfigured, the Mediterranean is undoubtedly a sea of opportunities. However, the Chinese presence in the Mediterranean predated the initiative of 2013. Ever since the country's accession to the WTO in 2001, manufactured goods “Made in China” have filled up trade flows, followed by increasing Chinese investments, and new forms of migratory circulation, with ever growing numbers of Chinese businessmen, construction workers, and tourists. Therefore, the Chinese presence in the Mediterranean, while bringing new opportunities, raises also questions and concerns to nation-states on both shores of the Mediterranean, the Maghreb, as well as those of southern Europe. Embracing the new economic opportunities brought by China the BRI, they are also concerned with the long-term geopolitical consequences of Chinese investments and activism in the Mediterranean. This panel gathers five papers, bolstering a multilevel analysis of globalization (from below and from above) and a multidisciplinary approach to the study of China in the Mediterranean (from political science and international relations, to geography and sociology). The panel opens with a paper by Paul Tourret that questions whether the New Silk Roads are a contemporary myth or rather a worrying reality for the Mediterranean countries. Then Yahia Zoubir discusses China’s presence in the Maghreb, contrasting neorealist and constructivist approaches as to whether the Maghreb intends on playing China against Western powers, or whether the Maghreb states are interested merely in commercial gains from China. Drilling down into China’s presence in the Maghreb, Saïd Belguidoum reveals the inconspicuous redeployment of transnational merchant supply networks between Algeria and China. Moving to the other side of the Mediterranean, Ugo Armanini untangles the multidimensional development of Spain and China’s bilateral relations. Further from ‘South’, closer to EU’s heartland, Emilie Tran argues that France’s relationship with China is a mix of competition and cooperation, labelled as coopetion.

Title	Details
China’s Projections in the Maghreb: Establishing a Presence in the Mediterranean	View Paper Details
France and the Belt and Road Initiative: Overcoming Distrust with Multi-Level Coopetion in International Relations	View Paper Details
Further from ‘South’, Closer to EU’s Heartland: Spain Critical Stance Towards China’s Expanding Footprint in the Mediterranean	View Paper Details