‘Chinese Influence’ in Central and Eastern Europe?

This chapter critically examines the popular discourse of ‘Chinese influence’ in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE), arguing that it functions more as a meme than an accurate representation of reality. While China has engaged CEE through platforms like the China–CEE Countries Cooperation Initiative (also known as the ‘16 + 1 platform’), the Belt and Road Initiative, and bilateral economic partnerships, claims of widespread malign influence outcomes are empirically weak and conceptually thin. The alarmist narrative, driven by Western insecurities and amplified by think tanks, media, and pundits, oversimplifies both China and CEE as monolithic actors. The ‘Chinese influence’ mimetic discourse has thus not managed to properly tackle the questions of the complex, unintended, and ideational impacts of China's presence, shaped by diverse actors and local agency. The chapter ultimately advocates for moving beyond the influence framework to better grasp the open-ended, nuanced, and context-specific dynamics of China–CEE relations.