Published by: China-CEE Institute Nonprofit Ltd. Telephone: +36-1-5858-690 E-mail: [email protected] Webpage: www.china-cee.eu Address: 1052, Budapest, Petőfi Sándor utca 11. Chief Editor: Dr. Chen Xin ISSN: 978-615-6124-33-3 Cover design: PONT co.lab Copyright: China-CEE Institute Nonprofit Ltd. The reproduction of the study or parts of the study are prohibited. The findings of the study may only be cited if the source is acknowledged. How Bosnia and Herzegovina Perceives the Belt and Road Initiative and China- CEEC Cooperation Editor in Chief: Dr. Chen Xin China-CEE Institute Budapest, March 2021 This project was supported by Embassy of the People’s Republic of China in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The Bosnian version has been published in 2020. Contents Preface One ................................................................................................................. 3 Preface Two ................................................................................................................ 5 Belt and Road Initiative and Bosnia and Herzegovina................................................... 7 BiH and Its Perception of China: From the Stereotyped Past to the BRI ...................... 25 BiH Diplomatic Perception on Cooperation with China: From 1995 to the BRI .......... 46 “Five Connectivities” of the Belt and Road Initiative: Results and Recommendations for the Future Cooperation .................................................................................... 65 Evolution of Chinese Cultural Diplomacy and its impact on the BiH perception of the Belt and Road Initiative and China CEE Cooperation .................................... 101 Bosnia and Herzegovina’s Youth Perception of China-CEEC Cooperation ............... 133 Belt and Road Initiative and Platform “17+1”: Perception and Treatment in the Media in Bosnia and Herzegovina ............................................................................... 149 Institutional Framework for Strategic Development of Bosnia and Herzegovina-China Relations with a Focus on the BRI................................................................. 183 1 2 Preface One On May 22, 1992, the United Nations General Assembly passed a resolution agreeing to admit Bosnia and Herzegovina to the United Nations as an independent country. China voted in favor. On April 3, 1995, the two governments signed the “Joint Communiqué on the Establishment of Diplomatic Relations between the People’s Republic of China and the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina”. In April 2020, China and Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) celebrated the 25th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations. Since establishing diplomatic relations, the two countries have been making efforts to promote bilateral relations and cooperation. In particular, since 2013, China and BiH have made considerable achievements in various areas. First, the two countries maintained political exchanges at various levels. For instance, from 2013 to 2018, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang met Chairmen of the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina during the Meetings of Heads of Government of China and Central and Eastern European Countries (CEECs), which were held in various CEE cities as well as in China. Second, bilateral cooperation in business and trade produced good results. One earlier instance is that a Chinese company started to construct the Stanari power plant in BiH in 2013. This construction project is the first major cooperative project between the two countries and also the first project under the US$10 billion special credit line for China-CEECs cooperation. According to the latest data of China Customs, the total bilateral trade between China and BiH in 2020 was US$192.7841 million, a year-on-year increase of 0.39%. Among them, China’s exports to BiH were US$112,011,900, a year-on-year increase of 4.29%; China’s imports from BiH were US$72.682 million, a year-on-year decrease of 5.46%. Considering the coronavirus crisis in 2020, the two countries achieved a considerable result in bilateral trade. Third, in the past two decades, the two countries continued to enhance bilateral communications and cooperation in several important areas, including culture, transportation, science and technology, health, education, news, military and so forth. Meanwhile, BiH also takes an active role in China-CEECs cooperation. In 2020, China-CEE Institute launched Call for Papers entitled “How Bosnia and Herzegovina Perceives the Belt and Road Initiative and China-CEEC 3 Cooperation”. This book is the result of the Call and provides a comprehensive overview of bilateral relations and cooperation between China and BiH under the framework of China’s Belt and Roald Initiative. Authors shed light upon various important issues in China-BiH relations, for instance, diplomatic relations between the two countries, a path of the Chinese Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) into the Western Balkans with the focus on BiH, cooperation potentials in the future, how BiH (and its youth) perceives China’s Initiative and China-CEEC cooperation, the BRI initiative and ‘17+1’ in BiH media, and institutional framework for strategic development of BiH-China relations. The views in the book are represented by the individual authors instead of the China-CEE Institute. The China-CEE Institute, registered as a non-profit limited company in Budapest, Hungary, was established by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) in April 2017. The China-CEE Institute builds ties and strengthens partnerships with academic institutions and think tanks in Hungary, Central and Eastern European countries, as well as other parts of Europe. The China-CEE Institute aims to encourage scholars and researchers to carry out joint research and field studies, to organize seminars and lecture series, to hold some training programs for younger students, and to publish academic results, etc. I hope this collection will be helpful for enriching the knowledge of China- BiH bilateral relations and the literature on China’s BRI initiative and promoting the mutual understanding between China and CEE countries. Prof. Dr. CHEN Xin Executive President and Managing Director, China-CEE Institute Deputy Director General, Institute of European Studies, CASS 4 Preface Two The year 2020 marks the 25th anniversary since the representatives of the governments of the People’s Republic of China and the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina signed a joint declaration on the establishment of diplomatic relations on April 3, 1995. At the General Assembly of the United Nations, held on May 22, 1992, the People’s Republic of China voted in favour of the resolution which accepted and confirmed the membership of Bosnia and Herzegovina as an independent state in the United Nations. After the conclusion of the Dayton Peace Agreement, relations between the two countries continued, developing over the past quarter of a century in the sign of friendship, mutual respect and cooperation. The steel principle of political relations between the People’s Republic of China and Bosnia and Herzegovina in this period was and remains mutual respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity, in accordance with international law, the Dayton Peace Agreement, the integration path of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence that define the foreign policy of the People’s Republic of China. The People’s Republic of China, as a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, has an extremely important role to play in supporting the processes of strengthening peace and stability in Bosnia and Herzegovina. A special aspect of the cooperation between our two friendly countries is economic cooperation, which has experienced its expansion in the past few years, in the form of a number of large investment projects. Through participation in the “Belt and Road” initiative and “17 + 1” cooperation platform, Bosnia and Herzegovina shows its determined intention to further strengthen and improve its economic cooperation with the People’s Republic of China. 5 On the occasion of the 25th anniversary of relations between the two countries, I express my desire to continue and improve good relations, through cooperation that will be for the benefit of the people of both countries. Šefik Džaferović, Former Chairman of the Presidency Of Bosnia and Herzegovina 6 “Belt and Road Initiative” and Bosnia and Herzegovina Mladen Ivanić Aleksandar Savović Abstract This paper explores a path of the Chinese Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) into the Western Balkans, with the focus on emerging issues and potential projects in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Despite the warm welcome to Chinese investments in the region, Western Balkan countries are not immune to the growing pressure posed by the rising geopolitical tensions regarding the BRI. Nonetheless, significant infrastructure gaps present a substantial barrier for the economic development and European integration of the region, and the BRI seems like a unique opportunity to propel trade and investment activities in the region. Introduction At the end of the 1970s, the then China’s leader Deng Xiaoping began reforming the Chinese economy and shifting the course and aspirations of the world's most populous country. Deng recognized that it had to adopt new economic practices in order for China to become a prosperous country. Under his plan, China retained its socio-political ideology, but combined it with market economy reforms. A new way of thinking has been put forward