Chinese Influence in Central Eastern Europe during the global economic crisis

The access of many former members of the Warsaw Pact into the European Union represents the top of the “westernization” process begun during 1990s. The access into the EU represented also a big flood of funds to Central-Eastern Europe (CEE), but the new members haven’t always been able to make a correct use of the European grants. During the last years the economic crisis heavily affected Central European Countries. Only Poland seems to resist the crisis’ hits. Considering the current difficulties of the European Union and its main members, CEE countries started to look to East, especially to the second economy of the world and potentially the first in a perspective of few years to come: China. Chinese funds and investments are interpreted as a possible way out from the economic difficulties. On the Asian side, Chinese enterprises are more and more interested to invest their money and resources in Central East European countries because they can represent the starting point to enter into EU market bypassing the strict European anti-dumping set of rules.