The Belt and Road Initiative influence on Poland's and the Czech Republic's business operations

This paper discusses the influence of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) on business in Poland and in the Czech Republic during the years 2015–2023 as the main "land bridge" between the European Union and the Eurasian Economic Union. The BRI was launched by President Xi Jinping in September 2013 and involved directly more than 150 countries worldwide with a total investment of more than 1 trillion USD. The main objective of this study is to compare the influence of BRI on Poland's and the Czech Republic's economies and the business management of large companies in strategic sectors, as well as to elucidate China's interests in the CEE region. This paper also discusses the potential business threats and concerns regarding sovereignty and the increasing indebtedness of businesses, along with their possible international implications. The article allows to identify the Polish and Czech companies with Chinese capital and the potential influence that Chinese investors may have on business management, ranging from telecommunications and security sectors to food and chemicals. The most influenced sectors are among others IT and security which may involve vulnerabilities not only for Central and Eastern Europe but also for the European Union.

References/Bibliografia

Bartosiewicz, A., & Szterlik, P. (2018). Nowy Jedwabny Szlak a relacje polsko-chińskie. Ekonomia XXI Wieku, 4(20), 7–21. https://doi.org/10.15611/e21.2018.4.01

BorsodChem MCHZ. (2023a). Grant projects. BorsodChem MCHZ – Czech Republic. https://borsodchem.cz/about-us/grant-projects

BorsodChem MCHZ. (2023b). History. BorsodChem MCHZ – Czech Republic. https://borsodchem.cz/about-us/history

BorsodChem MCHZ. (2023c). Utilities. BorsodChem MCHZ – Czech Republic. https://borsodchem.cz/about-us/utilities

Bruegel. (2023). The Belt and Road Initiative 2.0 is all about security. https://www.bruegel.org/podcast/belt-and-road-initiative-20-all-about-security

Buckley, P. J. (2020). China's belt and road initiative: Changing the rules of globalization. Journal of International Business Studies, 51(2), 279–281. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41267-019-00283-z

Burdelski, M. (2011). 60 years of diplomatic relations between Poland and the People's Republic of China – historical review. Polish Political Science, XL.

Cameron, M., Cuyvers, L. J., Fu, D., & Viviers, W. (2021). Identifying export opportunities for China in the 'Belt and Road Initiative' group of countries: A decision support model approach. Journal of International Trade Law and Policy, 20(2), 101–126. https://doi.org/10.1108/JITLP-11-2020-0061

Choroś-Mrozowska, D. (2019). The Chinese Belt and Road Initiative from the Polish perspective. Comparative Economic Research. Central and Eastern Europe, 22(2), 39–53. https://doi.org/10.2478/cer-2019-0011

CITIC. (2022a). About us. CITIC Limited. https://www.citic.com/en/aboutus/

CITIC. (2022b). Brief introduction. CITIC GROUP. https://www.group.citic/en/About_CITIC/Brief_Introduction/

COIG. (2023). Wykaz firm z chińskim kapitałem działających w Polsce w 2023. Centralny Ośrodek Informacji Gospodarczej. https://www.coig.com.pl/wykaz_lista_firm-z-chinskim-kapitalem_w_polsce.php

Dębiec, K., & Jakóbowski, J. (2018, June 6). Chinese investments in the Czech Republic: Changing the expansion model. OSW Centre for Eastern Studies. https://www.osw.waw.pl/en/publikacje/analyses/2018-06-06/chinese-investments-czech-republic-changing-expansion-model-0

Devonshire-Ellis, C. (2020). China's COVID-19 recovery: What lies ahead for foreign investors. China Briefing. https://www.chinabriefing.com/news/chinas-covid-19-recovery-what-lies-ahead-for-foreign-investors-op-ed/

Dygas, R. (2022). Business management challenges of companies in Europe during the COVID-19 period of 2019–2021. Conference 'Central and Eastern Europe in the Changing Business Environment 2022', 10–19. https://doi.org/10.18267/pr.2022.kre.2454.2

Embassy of the Czech Republic in Beijing. (2024). Czech–China Economic Ties. Embassy of the Czech Republic in Beijing. https://mzv.gov.cz/beijing/en/trade_and_economy/why_invest_in_cz/index.html

Garcia Herrero, A., & Xu, J. (2019). Countries' perceptions of China's Belt and Road Initiative: A Big Data analysis. HKUST IEMS Working Paper No. 2019–59. http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3430318

Garlick, J. (2019). China's principal-agent problem in the Czech Republic: The curious case of CEFC. Asia Europe Journal, 17(4), 437–451. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10308-019-00565-z

Górski, J. (2018). China's strategy toward Central and Eastern Europe within the Framework of 16 + 1 Group: The case of Poland. In: W. Zhang, A. Ilan, & C. Lattemann (Eds.), China's Belt and Road Initiative changing the rules of globalization (115–134). Palgrave Macmillan.

GREEN-BRI. (2020). Belt and Road Initiative International Green Development Coalition (BRIGC) – Green Belt and Road Initiative Center. Green Belt and Road Initiative Center. https://green-bri.org/belt-and-road-initiative-green-coalition-brigc/

Groeneveld, L., & Pankowska, M. (2022). Chiny inwestują w europejskich portach. I podtapiają obronę NATO. FrontStory.pl. https://frontstory.pl/chiny-port-nato-bezpieczenstwo-inwestycje-wojsko/

Gruebler, J. (2021). China connecting Europe? Asia Europe Journal, 19, 77–101. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10308-021-00616-4

Hemmings, J. (2020). Reconstructing order: The geopolitical risks in China's Digital Silk Road. Asia Policy, 27(1), 5–21. https://doi.org/10.1353/asp.2020.0002

Hlídač. (n.d.). Zheng Fan. Registr smluv. Hlídač státu. https://www.hlidacstatu.cz/Osoba/RegistrSmluv/zheng-fan (access: 27 July 2023).

Jakimów, M. (2019). Desecuritisation as a soft power strategy: The Belt and Road Initiative, European fragmentation and China's normative influence in Central-Eastern Europe. Asia Europe Journal, 17(4), 369–385. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10308-019-00561-3

Jakubowski, A., Komornicki, T., Kowalczyk, K., & Miszczuk, A. (2020). Poland as a hub of the Silk Road Economic Belt: Is the narrative of opportunity supported by developments on the ground? Asia Europe Journal, 18(3), 367–396. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10308-020-00571-6

Jiang, L. (2022). Development of relations between China and Czechoslovakia and its successor states, Czechia and Slovakia. Chinese Journal of Slavic Studies, 2(1), 100–113. https://doi.org/10.1515/cjss-2022-0005

Kafka Desk Prague Office. (2009, February 10). Czech Republic saw record number of tourists in 2018. https://kafkadesk.org/2019/02/10/czech-republicsaw-record-number-of-tourists-in-2018/

Kavalski, E. (2019). China in Central and Eastern Europe: The unintended effects of identity narratives. Asia Europe Journal, 17(4), 403–419. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10308-019-00563-1

Kostecka-Tomaszewska, L., & Czerewacz-Filipowicz, K. (2019). Poland – A gate to the EU or a bottleneck in the Belt and Road Initiative. European Research Studies Journal, XXII(4), 472–492. https://doi.org/10.35808/ersj/1524

Kurzy.cz. (2024). CITIC Europe Holdings a.s., Praha IČO 04170792 – Obchodní rejstřík firem. https://rejstrik-firem.kurzy.cz/04170792/citic-europeholdings-as/

Li, J., Van Assche, A., Li, L., & Qian, G. (2022). Foreign direct investment along the Belt and Road: A political economy perspective. Journal of International Business Studies, 53(5), 902–919. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41267-021-00435-0

Lubina, M. (2017). Big words, little results: The Chinese investments in Poland from the political perspective. Polish Political Science Yearbook, 2(46), 150–171. https://doi.org/10.15804/ppsy2017210

Matura, T. (2018). The Belt and Road Initiative depicted in Hungary and Slovakia. Journal of Contemporary East Asia Studies, 7(2), 174–189. https://doi.org/10.1080/24761028.2018.1537091

McVicar, D. (2023, April 24). How the Czech Republic became one of Taiwan's closest European partners and what it means for EU-China relations. Council on Foreign Relations. https://www.cfr.org/blog/how-czech-republic-became-one-taiwans-closest-european-partners-and-what-it-means-eu-china

Merics. (2024). Profiling European countries' resilience towards China. https://merics.org/en/report/profiling-european-countries-resilience-towardschina

National Bureau of Statistics of China (China Statistics Press). (2021, September 29). China: Outward FDI stock to Czech Republic 2020. Statista. https://www-statista-com.zdroje.vse.cz/statistics/865590/china-total-outward-fdi-stock-to-czech-republic/

Nurgozhayeva, R. (2020). Rule-making, rule-taking or rule-rejecting under the Belt and Road Initiative: A Central Asian perspective. The Chinese Journal of Comparative Law, 8(1), 250–278. https://doi.org/10.1093/cjcl/cxaa006

OECD. (2018). The Belt and Road Initiative in the global trade, investment and finance landscape (61–101). https://doi.org/10.1787/bus_fin_out-2018-6-en

Paszak, P. (2021). Poland-China relations in 2021: Current state and prospects. Warsaw Institute. https://warsawinstitute.org/poland-china-relations-2021-current-state-prospects/

Pendrakowska, P. (2018). Poland's perspective on the Belt and Road Initiative. Journal of Contemporary East Asia Studies, 7(2), 190–206. https://doi.org/10.1080/24761028.2018.1552491

Pyffel, R. (2013). Biznes w Chinach. Jak uniknąć problemów. PAiH. https://www.paih.gov.pl/files/?id_plik=21859

Sarek, Ł. (2018). Polska – Chiny – UE. The Warsaw Institute Review. https://warsawinstitute.org/pl/polska-chiny-ue/

Security Information Service. (2023). Security Information Service: Annual Report 2023. https://www.bis.cz/annual-reports/annual-report-of-thesecurity-information-service-for-2023-f0cd7859.html

SK Slavia Praha. (2023). Partners. https://en.slavia.cz/partneri.asp

Stec, G., & Legarda, H. (2024). The Europe-China resilience audit: Insights for advancing European resilience. Merics. https://merics.org/en/report/europe-china-resilience-audit-insights-advancing-eu-resilience

Syed, J., & Ying, Y.-H. (Eds.). (2019). China's Belt and Road Initiative in a global context. Springer International Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-14722-8

Szunomár, Á., Karindi, L., & Leonte, A. (2020). Economic relations: A sugar cane, or a sugar-coated stick? In: I. Karásková, A. Bachulska, Á. Szunomár, S. Vladisavljev, U. A. Be-rzin,a-Čerenkova, K. Andrijauskas, L. Karindi, A. Leonte, N. Pejić, & F. Šebok (Eds.), Empty shell no more: China's growing footprint in Central and Eastern Europe.

Vangeli, A. (2019). Diffusion of ideas in the era of the Belt and Road: Insights from China-CEE think tank cooperation. Asia Europe Journal, 17(4), 421–436. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10308-019-00564-0

Visvizi, A., Lytras, M. D., & Jin, P. (2019). Belt and Road Initiative (BRI): New forms of international and cross-industry collaboration for sustainable growth and development. Sustainability, 12(1), 193. https://doi.org/10.3390/su12010193

VSQUARE. (2018). Belt, road, and humbug. China's investments in Poland. https://vsquare.org/belt-road-hub-and-humbug-what-are-chinasinvestments-in-poland/

ZDAS. (2021). Unique technology solutions. Žd’as. https://www.zdas.com/

Zhou, W., & 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

ZTE. (n.d.). Telecoms giant ZTE opens for business in Czech Republic. https://www.zte.com.cn/global/about/news/350198.html (access: 27 July 2023).