China Operates A Growing Network Of Think Tanks And Lobbyists In Europe

The Cor­po­rate Europe Obser­va­to­ry (CEO), a watch­dog inves­ti­gat­ing cor­po­rate influ­ence and EU lob­by­ing, report­ed in 2019 that Chi­na oper­ates a grow­ing net­work of think tanks and lob­by­ists in Europe. Accord­ing to the CEO report, titled “Fol­low the New Silk Road:

April 8, 2019 As Chi­na becomes an ever more potent play­er on the world stage, it is increas­ing its use of soft pow­er and influ­enc­ing tools in Europe. From fund­ing think tanks and aca­d­e­m­ic insti­tu­tions, to court­ing offi­cials via paid pub­lic affairs con­sul­tants and busi­ness asso­ci­a­tions, its lob­by­ing seeks to cre­ate fer­tile ground for Chi­na-friend­ly policies.

Read the full report here.

The CEO report iden­ti­fies the fol­low­ing lob­by asso­ci­a­tions, think tanks, and con­sul­tan­cies as being fund­ed, oper­at­ed, or oth­er­wise linked to the Chi­nese government:

• Chi­naEU, a Brus­sels-based busi­ness lobby.

• Europe-Chi­na Forum, an annu­al meet­ing held by the cor­po­rate-spon­sored Brus­sels think tank Friends of Europe.

• Silk Road Think Tank Net­work (SiLKS), a net­work of think tanks world­wide that pro­mote Chi­na’s Belt and Road Initiative.

• Fon­da­tion France Chine, a Paris-based club gath­er­ing French and Chi­nese elite mem­bers (see our August report on the foundation).

• 16+1 Think Tank Net­work, an ini­tia­tive that brings togeth­er 16 Cen­tral and East­ern Euro­pean coun­tries to build for­eign sup­port for the Belt and Road Ini­tia­tive (now renamed to 17+1 Think Tank Net­work).

• Brus­sels Acad­e­my for Chi­na and Euro­pean Stud­ies, an aca­d­e­m­ic plat­form fund­ed by China.

• Lob­by Com­mu­ni­ca­tion Advi­so­ry, an Ital­ian consultancy.

• Dezan Shi­ra & Asso­ciates. a pan-Asian con­sul­tan­cy with offices in Europe.

• Coop­er­ans, a French consultancy.

The report also notes tech­nol­o­gy and com­mu­ni­ca­tions com­pa­ny Huawei’s role as a Chi­nese influ­ence tool. Accord­ing to the lat­est fil­ings, Huawei spent at least three mil­lion Euros for lob­by­ing efforts on the Euro­pean lev­el in 2019, employ­ing at least 19 full-time lobbyists.