As China's role in the wider Mediterranean region continues to deepen, a group of experts from prestigious research institutions gathered to discuss this issue, taking into consideration the role of local actors in shaping China's economic, diplomatic and security presence in this pivotal region.

This workshop was jointly organized by EURICS, the Torino World Affairs Institute, and the Department of Government and International Studies at the Hong Kong Baptist University.

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PROGRAM (CEST time)

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• 3.00-3.10: Welcoming words by Sébastien Colin (EURICS/Inalco)

Part I

Chair : Rémi Castets (D2IA/Bordeaux Montaigne University)

• 3.10-3.25: Emilie Tran (Department of Government and International Studies, Hong Kong Baptist University) & Yahia Zoubir (KEDGE Business School – Marseille Campus) - presentation of the Special Issue: China in the Mediterranean: An Arena of Strategic Competition?

• 3.25-3.40: Zhang Chuchu (School of International Relations and Public Affairs, Fudan University) - China’s infrastructure diplomacy in the Mediterranean region under the Belt and Road Initiative: Challenges ahead?

• 3.40-3.55: Yahia Zoubir (KEDGE Business School – Marseille Campus) - China in the Southern Mediterranean: Integrating the Greater Maghreb in the new Silk Road

• 3.55-4.10 Sun Degang (Center for Middle Eastern Studies and Institute of International Studies, Fudan University) and Xu Ruike (School of English and International Studies, Beijing Foreign Studies University) - China-Egypt Comprehensive Strategic Partnership: A Role Theory Perspective

• 4.10-4.25 Emilie Tran (Department of Government and International Studies, Hong Kong Baptist University) - Role dynamics and trust in France-China coopetition

• 4.25-4.40 Mario Esteban (Elcano Royal Institute/Centre for East Asian Studies, Autonomous University of Madrid) & Ugo Armanini (Elcano Royal Institute) - (Mis)trust in Spain-China relations

• 4.40-5.10 Q&A with the audience

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Break

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Part II

Chair: Enrico Fardella (Peking University)

• 5.30-5.50: Anna Caffarena and Giovanni Andornino (University of Turin) - Followership in a Post-Unipolar World: the case of Italy-China relations 2013-2022

• 5.50-6.10: Andrea Ghiselli (Fudan University) - Exploiting China’s Rise: Syria’s Strategic Narrative and China’s Participation in Middle Eastern Politics

• 6.10-6.30: Anastas Vangeli (University of Ljubljiana) - Global China, Geoeconomic Imagination and Developmental Peace in the Wider Med: A Conceptual Framework

• 6.30-7.30: Comments by Philippe Le Corre (Harvard Kennedy School/IFRAE-Inalco) and Q&A with the audience

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