The Belt and Road Initiative and the Bulgarian-Chinese Economic Relations

The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is one of the most ambitious development strategies of the 21^st century initiated by China and set to promote connectivity and economic cooperation among countries along the proposed Belt and Road routes. While some compare the BRI with the Marshall plan, others are sceptical about the benefits it will generate or see it as an expression of China’s power ambitions and oppose it. We are going to review the rationale, scope, funding channels, and the challenges that lie ahead for the BRI. Then we present the BRI perspective of Bulgaria – one of the first countries to establish diplomatic relations with the P.R. China which this year mark 70^th anniversary. Further, we look at the current status of the bilateral economic relations and identify potential areas for intensification of Bulgaria’s business ties with China.

Bio: Paskal ZHELEV holds a doctoral degree in International Economic Relations from the University of National and World Economy (UNWE) in Sofia where he is now an Associate Professor at the Department of International Economic Relations and Business. His research interests are in the field of international political economy, regional economic integration, industrial policy. He has been on various specializations abroad in Poland, Austria, Russia, the USA through the Fulbright Visiting Scholar Program, China. He served as Secretary-General for International Cooperation at the UNWE-Sofia (2016-2019). In 2019 he took part in the Top Management program of the Ministry of education and science of Republic of Kazakhstan and was Vice-Rector for international affairs and internationalization at the Korkyt Ata Kyzylorda State University. Dr. Zhelev is a member of the Governing Board of the Union of Economists in Bulgaria and the Management Committee of the Association of Economic Universities of South and Eastern Europe and the Black Sea Region (ASECU).