Research On China’s Port Investment And Construction Behavior In European Countries Along The Mediterranean Sea Under The Background Of "The Belt And Road"

In recent years,the economic and trade relations between China and the European Union have become increasingly close,and China has now surpassed the United States as the EU’s largest trading partner.However,since the Chinese government put forward "the Belt and Road" Initiative,the EU has increasingly emphasized economic competition with China in the field of infrastructure investment and construction.As the key infrastructure of a country,ports not only have economic attributes,but also have obvious strategic attributes.Therefore,the EU’s core decision-making institutions are more worried and suspicious about China’s increasing port investment and construction activities in the European region.The port investment and construction activities of Chinese enterprises in the European region are mainly concentrated in the European countries along the Mediterranean Sea.They are representative to some extent,which is helpful to explore the deep-seated reasons for the changes in the cognition and attitude of the EU’s core decision-making institutions.This paper first explains the internal connection between geo-economic theory and the practice of China’s overseas port investment and construction,and introduces the applicability of the theory and the new developments that have emerged after the "Belt and Road" initiative was put forward.Then focused on the port investment and construction activities of Chinese enterprises in the Mediterranean region.The situation of relevant port projects and the motivations for investment and construction are summarized,which helps to understand the development trend and objective intention of Chinese enterprises participating in the related port investment and construction activities.After that,the entry point of the investment entry mode jointly selected by Chinese enterprises and related partners was used to demonstrate the geo-economic effects of bilateral port investment and construction cooperation projects.These geo-economic effects are not only the influence of the successful conclusion of bilateral cooperation,but also the driving force for the continued advancement of cooperation.Furthermore,this paper focuses on the attitude and cognition of the European side as a direct related party towards Chinese enterprises’ participation in port investment and construction activities in European countries along the Mediterranean Sea.Combined with the multiplicity of the concept of Europe,it is divided into two parts:the main partner countries and the core decision-making institutions of the EU,then their differences and overall characteristics are introduced.It can be seen that the EU’s decision-making institutions,as the supranational administrative agencies,have more obvious strategic concerns.Based on this,it discusses the specific manifestations of the worrying mentality of the core decision-making institutions of the EU,and pointed out that the fundamental reason for this worrying mentality is that there is a difference in geo-economic ideas between China and the EU.Under the framework of "the Belt and Road",this difference is directly manifested in the different focus on the economic and geographic attributes of the port.What China seeks is the economic gains in the markets of European countries along the Mediterranean Sea,while the EU’s core decision-making institutions worry about the impact of its geo-strategic influences.In order to better analyze China’s port investment and construction activities in European countries along the Mediterranean Sea,this paper also adds specific cases on the basis of applying theories to pave the way for further answers to core question.Finally,after answering the core question,this paper attempts to put forward corresponding countermeasures for the advancement of port-based geo-economic cooperation between China and Europe.Mainly from the perspective of the subjects involved,it is pointed out that the Chinese government should focus on strengthening communication and docking with the core decision-making institutions of the EU in the future.Chinese enterprises should also further diversify the types of participation and the flexible ways of entry,generate more new functional spillovers that can spread to the EU level.At the same time,China should take the "multiplicity" and "integrity" of Europe into account,and actively use the reaction of European countries along the Mediterranean Sea to the EU’s core decision-making institutions,and break free from the restrictions of the Mediterranean region by means of third-party market cooperation,which will provide a stronger impetus for the deepening of China-EU economic and trade cooperation under the management and guidance of the EU’s core decision-making institutions.