Professor Kong Tianping, from the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences held a second guest lecture at the University of Montengro, Faculty of Economics on May 25, 2021. Students enrolled in a Master programme, taking the course Globalization and Economic Policy, had the opportunity to hear about China’s perception of the Western Balkans and its policy toward the Western Balkans.

In his lecture, professor Kong spoke about China’s relations with the Western Balkan countries, which should be viewed in 3 dimensions. The first dimension is bilateral relations, China dedicates to develop friendly relationship with the Western Balkan countries. The second dimension is China-CEEC relations, that is the so-called 17+1 framework (formerly 16+1 framework), the Western Balkan countries are part of 17+1 framework, which can server as the complimentary for the bilateral relations. China supports the European integration. As underinvestment in infrastructure sector is a chronic problem in the West Balkans, China’s entry in the region can partially contribute to the solution of the problem. In this regards, China’s involvement is compatible with the interests of the West Balkans countries, even with the interests of the European Union.

This lecture was the final online guest lecture for the summer semester of 2020/21 academic year at the University of Montenegro.