MAPPING KEY ACTORS IN CHINESE INFLUENCING EFFORTS IN EUROPE

Key Actors in China

Political Elites

• Ministry of Foreign Affairs
• International Liaison Department of the CCP
• United Front Work Department of the CCP and Overseas Chinese Affairs Office of the State Council
• Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM)
• State-owned enterprises (SOEs) and private companies

Media and Public Opinion

• Central Propaganda Department
• State Council Information Office
• Ministry of Culture
• Foreign Languages Office of the CCP (also known as the China International Publishing Group)
• Party-state media (Xinhua, People’s Daily, CGTN, China Daily, Global Times)
• Film studios

Civil Society & Academia

• Ministry of Education
• Chinese Academy of Social Science (CASS)
• State think tanks (CICIR, CCCWS, DRC)
• Confucius Institute Headquarters (Hanban)
• United Front Work Department of the CCP
• Overseas Chinese Affairs Office of the State Council

Key Actors In Europe

• 17+1 Think Tank Network:(China’s extensive 17+1 diplomatic initiative, coordinated by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China. This grouping, also known as China-CEEC (China and Central and Eastern European Countries) is about building foreign support for the Belt and Road Initiative. The 17 countries are: Poland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Bulgaria, Hungary, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Montenegro, Croatia, Albania, and Macedonia and Greece. The ‘plus one’ is China itself. The network is made of partnerships coordinated by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, with already existing institutions such as the Polish Academy of Sciences, the New Silk Road Institute Prague, the University of Belgrade, and the Bulgarian Diplomatic Institute. However The Institute of European Studies in Budapest has been set up and is managed entirely by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences from scratch, making it the first Chinese think tank in Europe. The Director-General of the Institute of European Studies, Huang Ping is also President of the China-CEEC institute.
• The 17+1 think tank forums bring together high level Chinese government officials and members of its state owned and private enterprises, along with scholars from China and Central and Eastern Europe, and diplomats and officials from the 16+1 countries. These forums may also serve as useful influencing opportunities; particularly as some events take place behind closed doors.
• Chinese multinational corporations (e.g. Tencent, owner of Chinese social media platform WeChat, Huawei)
• China-EU: Business lobby association based in Brussels, with an office in Beijing, that promotes business cooperation between China and Europe, and top level public-private partnership for Information and communication technology, linking the major Internet players, telecom operators and high tech companies from China and the EU together with high level officials and regulators from the European Institutions and the Chinese government..
• Europe-China Forum: Annual Meeting organized by Friends of Europe and the Chinese Mission to the EU and the China Institute for Reform and Development CIRD). The joint initiative is aimed at promoting greater Europe-China engagement and cooperation, and bring together policymakers, business representatives and leading academics from across Europe and China to discuss issues of shared interest and address pressing common challenges.
• Silk Road Think Network (SiLKS): A network of partnered think tanks across the world, concerned specifically with promoting the Belt and Road Initiative. Partner organisations in the network include highly respected European think tanks and institutes including Chatham House in the UK, the Elcano Royal Institute of Madrid, and the German Development Institute. The Secretariat of the Silk Road Think Tank Network, is located at and funded by China’s Department of International Cooperation at the Development Research Center of the State Council.
• Fondation France-Chine: With offices in Paris and Shanghai is a forum to contribute to the deepening of a privileged partnership between France and China in order to encourage an effective and constructive dialogue both at the official level and between companies. In China the official partner of the Foundation is the Chinese People’s Institute of Foreign Affairs (CPIFA).
• Comité France-Chine:  A project of the MEDEF (Mouvement des entreprises de France), the largest business federation in France.
• Brussels Academy for China and European Studies (BASES): Academic platform and ‘critical think tank’ shared by four founding universities: Renmin University of China, Sichuan University, Fudan University, and Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB). BACES’  work includes academic services including policy advice, and that it works closely with the VUB Confucius Institute, the Brussels Diplomatic Academy and faculty members of the founding and affiliated partners. It is funded by the China Scholarship Council and Huawei. The VUB Confucius Institute hosts BACES in Brussels.
• The Confucius Institutes (CI): Cultural centres funded by the Chinese Government on university campuses around the world. There are 160 Confucius Institutes in Europe. Their beneficial cross cultural exchanges – language learning, film evenings, and so on – are uncontroversial. Beijing both funds the centres, provides teachers and materials.
• Lobby Communication Advisory: Founder Irene Pivetti, holds various other positions on boards and government institutions in China, and is President of the Italy China Friendship Association.Lobby Communication Advisory is mainly focused on the promotion of China’s Belt and Road Initiative, and the Shanghai Research Institute is a shareholder in the firm, owning ten per cent of the company. Lobby Communication Advisory is part of Only Italia, also founded by Pivetti, a company that helps Italian businesses to enter the Chinese market.
• Dezan Shira & Associates: Pan-Asian “multi-disciplinary professional services firm with three client liaison offices in Germany, two in Italy, and a bespoke international office that gathers all its expertise: the Belt and Road Liaison Office. The firm offers market intelligence, risk assessment, legal, and other advice to governments and business interested in investment or intelligence studies in all countries along China's Belt & Road Initiative