The Chinese presence on the periphery of Europe. The "17 + 1 Format"1, The Trojan horse of China? XAVIER RICHET * Emeritus Professor of Economics, University Sorbonne nouvelle, Paris,
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[email protected] Abstract: - In this contribution, we analyze the presence of China in the countries of eastern and south-eastern Europe, some of which are EU members, others in the accession phase or in the process of becoming candidates, gathered in the 17 + 1 Format. This presence takes different forms: trade and direct investment (still low in volume, especially in comparison with the rest of Europe), the provision of services - construction of railway lines, ports, highways - thanks to bank loans granted by Chinese financial institutions. One wonders about the rationalities of the strategies implemented: search for outlets, especially for Chinese firms in overcapacity, attempt to create regional value chains, junction of the maritime and land routes of the new silk roads, finally, search of influence on the periphery of the European Union. Key-words: 17+1 Format, China, EU, trade, investment JEL Classification: F, F0 1. Introduction In 2013, China launched an ambitious program to expand its overseas investment the One Belt, One Road project, (OBOR), which has since become the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI): Belt for land routes, Road, for shipping routes. An ambitious Initiative by the number of countries concerned, the financial volumes mobilized and, of course, the expected spin-offs (Zhang, Alon & Lattemann, 2018). Chinese expansionism