While political and economic ties between Romania and China are at their lowest in three decades, politicians from municipal and regional level are exploring new ways of cooperation.
Greeted
by kindergarteners performing a Chinese folk dance and an art exhibition at the
city hall, representatives from the embassy of the People’s Republic of China
(PRC) in Bucharest felt just like at home.
In
fact, they were visiting the town of Pecica, in Western Romania, last week, to
attend a panel discussion on Chinese culture and Romanian-Chinese dialogue.
The
town with almost 13 000 residents has the first Pro-China Club in the country,
founded in 2018 and led by the mayor, so authorities and the local high school
have been preparing for weeks for the event.
- It is quite fascinating, I read it from cover
to cover several times – Dr. Lizica Mihuț explained the Global China 2049
Initiative for an audience of teachers and authorities at the highly mediatised
event.
The former head of the Arad State University is
the president of the Forum of Friendship and Romanian-Chinese Cooperation and
threw all of her weight behind the cause.
She found support at the county council, as Arad had ties with Hainan Province for 25 years.
- We have an excellent relationship. Arad
has become a centre of interest for students and investors from the People's
Republic of China, one of the world's superpowers – county president
Iustin Cionca said.
During the pandemic, the county situated next
to the Hungarian border continued to tighten its Chinese ties. In November
2020, Cionca and the vice-governor of Fujian, Cui Yongshui agreed, via
video call, on a five-year twinning agreement “with the aim of ensuring the
economic-social development of local communities, as well as for the
implementation of joint projects”.
The
Chinese ambassador to Romania called it “a major event of the regional
friendship” between the two countries.
The China-CEE Institute considers Romania an intermediary
between the PRC and the EU, importing parts and components and then further
exporting them in the European area, but “there are several obstacles for a
full development of the economic relations”, naming the banning of Chinese
companies from the development of its 5G telecommunication networks.
Arad is not the only Romanian region that hopes
to attract investors from the socialist country. Representatives of over 30
cities and counties, including mayors of some of the biggest Romanian cities
took part in the “Online Forum of China-Romania Economic and Commercial
Cooperation 2021”.
A number of 31 agreements of cooperation have
been signed between Romanian and Chinese municipalities and counties, think
tank Expert Forum reported, based on governmental data.
Visits between the partners were quite regular
before the pandemic: officials and investors met at events and trade fairs. So
far, without notable economic results.
Expert Forum’s China Watch calculated that only 1.2% of the total
foreign direct investment in Romania came from the P.R.C. and imports were
almost five times higher than exports.
- Cities and regions play an increasingly vital
role in international relations, even co-shaping their countries’ foreign
policy - Joanna Ciesielska-Klikowska and Tomasz Kamiński from the University of
Łódź concluded in their research.
Their survey among 743 European cities
confirmed that partnerships with China on the subnational level are now quite
common, but the awareness of their existence at EU level is low.
- The European Union could use cities and
regions as “transmission belts” to promote its values, which could also mean
applying foreign policy tools in cooperation with local and regional
authorities – the political scientist advises.
Photo: Pecica City Hall, Arad County Council
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