“In Croatia, China’s building its bridge to Europe”, 11 May 2020

… The bridge [Pelješac bridge] will connect the southernmost portion of Croatia, where tourism hotspot Dubrovnik is located, with the north of country…

The bridge is also a showcase for China, marking the first time a Chinese company has won an EU tender.

“For China, the Pelješac bridge project is a Belt and Road Initiative success story,” says Lucrezia Poggetti, analyst at Mercator Institute for China Studies whose research focuses on EU–China relations. “But its success is disputed as a possible case of unfair competition, since the European companies who bid for construction were outcompeted by a Chinese state enterprise that was able to charge a lower price.”

The Pelješac bridge has been under intense scrutiny since the Austrian company Strabag, which also competed for the tender, laid an accusation of price dumping at its constructor, the China Road and Bridge Corporation (CRBC)…

Though there was concern that the China Road and Bridge Corporation’s lower bid would translate into higher environmental costs, no wrongdoing has been detected. Vjeran Piršić, director of Croatian environmental organisation Eko Kvarner, said that oyster farmers in the bay of Ston, south of the bridge location, feared construction might impact water quality. “But so far nothing like that has happened,” he says. Zelena Akcija (Green Action), one of the most active environmental organisations in Croatia, confirmed in an email that they had not been aware of any environmental malpractice linked to the bridge construction…

Matt Ferchen, head of Global China Research at Mercator Institute for China Studies, explains that he’d seen many projects “done poorly because the Chinese side was unwilling to partner up with capable local partners, whether it was on legal issues, public relation issues or environmental impact assessments.”

“Recently, however, we see more Chinese companies willing to pay more attention to the local circumstances, the legal environment and concerns and interests of the local community,” he adds.

Louise Curran, professor at Toulouse Business School, who has researched the collaboration between Europe and China in renewables says many Chinese companies opt to leave the local management in place and take a hands-off approach, especially when investing in cutting-edge technologies…