CYIL vol. 9 (2018)

CYIL 9 ȍ2018Ȏ CHALLENGES OF BILATERAL INVESTMENT BETWEEN THE CZECH REPUBLIC AND CHINA promotion missions to central and eastern European countries and take concrete steps to move forward bilateral economic cooperation and trade”. 17 Subsequently, a series of annual summits between China and CEEs were held that produced several guidelines including the 2013 Bucharest Guidelines, the 2014 Belgrade Guidelines, the 2015 Suzhou Guidelines, the 2016 Riga Guidelines, and most recently the 2017 Budapest Guidelines. 18 The frequent summits provide opportunities for the G16+1 to strengthen economic cooperation, in particular, in transportation infrastructure. In relation to FDI, the Budapest Guidelines announced that China and the CEEs agreed to “further promote and facilitate free flow of investments for the stakeholders”, and the expected EU-China Comprehensive Investment Agreement will “create a stable, transparent and predictable environment for enterprises and investors”. 19 China and CEEs reiterate that the G16+1 Cooperation applies “within the applicable norms of international law and in accordance with the laws, regulations and respective competences of each other and EU standards and policies for EU member states and candidate countries.” 20 The G16+1 Guidelines repeat that G16+1 Cooperation shall be in line with the EU-China relations, the EU-China Strategic Agenda including the EU-China Investment Agreement. 21 The G 16+1 Cooperation is still rather careful in order for CEEs to work with China on the one hand, and operate within the EU on the other hand. However, within the EU, Western EU Member States were excluded from the G16+1, but these western countries are playing critical roles in the global market. These western countries also have critical influence on the decision-making process within the EU. Therefore, the exclusion brings the lack of mutual trust between these decision-making western countries and the decision-taking CEEs. In particular, a country like the Czech Republic, as a leader among the CEEs and middle-class within the EU, easily falls into the middle of these difficulties. 2.2 FDI Policy in China: A Careful Reformist 2.2.1 Current Development China’s economic transition started with reforms in its international trade and industrial structures. 22 In the past several years, China has taken an increasingly active part in reforming 17 Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the ’People’s Republic of China. ‘’‘China’s Twelve Measures for Promoting Friendly Cooperation with Central and Eastern European ’Countries’ (26 April 2012) [accessed 15 May 2018]. 18 ‘The Bucharest Guidelines for Cooperation between China and Central and Eastern European ’Countries’ ( China-CEEC , 26 November 2013) ; Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the ’People’s Republic of China. ‘The Belgrade Guidelines for Cooperation between China and Central and Eastern European ’Countries’ ( FMPRC, 16 December 2014) < http://www.fmprc.gov.cn/ mfa_eng/zxxx_662805/t1224905.shtml >; Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the ’People’s Republic of China. ‘The Belgrade Guidelines for Cooperation between China and Central and Eastern European ’Countries’ ( FMP RC, 16 December 2014) < http://www.fmprc.gov.cn/mfa_eng/zxxx_662805/t1224905.shtml >; Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Latvia, ‘The Riga Guidelines for Cooperation between China and Central and Eastern European Countries’ ( MFA , 5 November 2016) ; Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the ’People’s Republic of China, ‘The Budapest Guidelines for Cooperation between China and Central and Eastern European Countries’ (FMPRC, 28 November 2017) [accessed 14 May 2018]. 19 The 2017 Budapest Guidelines, no. 3. 20 The 2017 Budapest Guidelines. 21 The Belgrade Guidelines No. 7; The Riga Guidelines No. 10. 22 Fang Cai & Meiyan Wang ‘Growth and structural changes in employment in transition China’ (2010) 38 Journal of Comparative Economics , 71, 81.

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