China’s higher education, research cooperation, and overall economic relationship with Croatia were relatively stagnant after Croatia joined the 14+1 cooperation format and the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) in 2012. However, in 2017, under Prime Minister Andrej Plenković, cooperation within the 14+1 framework was reinvigorated. Although Croatia’s academic ties with Chinese counterparts are not as extensive as those of other Western European states, under the current leadership, relations are expanding in the fields of academia, the economy, critical infrastructure, and technology. Research findings indicate that the University of Zagreb and the University of Rijeka maintain the most developed relationships with Chinese universities and research institutes. The University of Zagreb is the sole institution in Croatia to offer a Sinology department within its Faculty of Philosophy, which was upgraded from a minor to a major field of study in 2024. The main areas of cooperation are joint research in materials science and biotechnology.
Background
Under Prime Minister Andrej Plenković’s leadership—beginning with his first term in 2016 and continuing through two subsequent reelections, with his tenure expected to last until 2028—bilateral relations between Croatia and China have steadily deepened.
This growing engagement is expected to increase Croatia’s dependence on, and exposure to, the risks posed by Beijing. These developments unfold against the backdrop of intensifying geopolitical tensions between the United States and China, as well as rising concerns and warnings from both the EU and NATO about closer ties with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and its global ambitions—developments that challenge the liberal rules-based international order to which Croatia belongs.
Plenković’s ruling Croatian Democratic Union, despite being rooted in Croatia’s independence movement and democratic transition, has fostered closer ties with the CCP over the past decade. China has been implicated in a wide range of malign activities, including unfair trade practices, forced technology transfers and dual-use applications, intellectual property theft, influence operations, disinformation campaigns, espionage, and cyberattacks targeting EU and NATO members.
A notable development occurred in May 2025, when China’s Minister of Science and Technology, Yin Hejun, visited Zagreb. During the visit, Plenković signed a high-level Memorandum of Cooperation in science, technology, and innovation. Plenković reaffirmed Croatia’s commitment to promoting strong EU-China relations and expressed interest in increasing Croatian exports to China. The agreement outlines plans for expanded scientific exchanges, conferences, and the signing of additional memoranda of understanding over the next five years. It also anticipates new inter-institutional research partnerships between Croatian universities and their Chinese counterparts, including research institutes, technology industries, and science parks.
The Croatian-Chinese Scientific and Technological Commission has expressed particular satisfaction with the collaboration between the University of Zagreb and the Chengdu Institute of Biology, which jointly operate a Belt and Road Initiative laboratory for biodiversity and ecosystem preservation. The lab has facilitated joint research and publications. Additionally, the commission supports the potential creation of a joint laboratory for artificial intelligence between the University of Rijeka and the Shanghai AI Institute, and a joint lab for green, low-carbon energy and ecological technology between the University of Zagreb and Xi’an Jiaotong University. The latter has been flagged as high-risk by the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) China Defence Universities Tracker, due to its links to the People’s Liberation Army (PLA), its involvement in cyberespionage activities, and its function as a recruitment ground for PLA hackers.
China’s economic rise, governance model, and hostile actions toward Croatia’s allies are increasingly relevant to Croatian foreign policy. Despite these concerns, Croatia continues to view China as a key economic partner, particularly in sectors such as tourism and infrastructure. Notable examples include the Pelješac Bridge, constructed by China Road and Bridge Corporation, and the Senj wind farm. However, these Belt and Road Initiative projects have faced criticism for lacking transparency, raising corruption risks, and failing to meet quality standards. Recent agreements aimed at boosting Croatian exports to China appear to diverge from the EU’s broader policy of economic de-risking. At the latest G7 summit, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen echoed U.S. concerns about China’s trade practices, signaling that the EU’s policy toward China may soon come under greater scrutiny.
Key findings
Overall, Croatian public universities and research institutes responded to Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests—except for the University of Split, the country’s second-largest university. In that case, all information regarding cooperation with Chinese counterparts was obtained through Croatian government public documents and the university’s website. The most significant levels of collaboration in terms of partner universities, student and faculty exchanges, and research projects were found at the University of Zagreb (49 instances), the University of Rijeka (11), the University of Split (10), and the Universities of Dubrovnik and Osijek (7 each).
According to the Croatian government’s website, since 1998, there have been 11 sessions of the Croatian-Chinese Commission for Scientific and Technological Cooperation, with 200 joint scientific-research projects approved to date. The most common areas of collaboration reported by universities and the leading research institute, Ruđer Bošković Institute, include materials science (30 projects), biotechnology (29), agriculture (11), and medicine (10). According to the ASPI University Defense Tracker, Croatian institutions have cooperated with nine Chinese universities labeled as “very high risk,” 12 as “high risk,” and 20 as “medium risk.” The majority (49) have no known links to the People’s Liberation Army (PLA).
At the 17+1 initiative summit in 2019, then-Chinese Premier Li Keqiang visited Croatia and met with Plenković, President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović, and other senior officials. Among various agreements, a digital technology partnership was signed with Huawei to support Croatia’s smart city development and establish university exchanges. This was followed by Huawei sponsoring a program with Croatia’s Central State Office for the Development of the Digital Society titled “Seeds for the Future.” Although Croatian students were intended to travel annually to China, only 36 participated due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
A notable example of a “medium-risk” collaboration dates to 2019, when a China-Croatia Belt and Road Joint Laboratory on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services was created at the University of Zagreb in partnership with the Chengdu University of Biology under the Chinese Academy of Sciences. The project, which involved joint research and educational exchanges, concluded in 2024. A “high-risk” partnership exists between Zhejiang University and the University of Dubrovnik, focused on research into quantitative and technical economics in the field of quantum critical technology. Additionally, Xi’an Jiaotong University and the University of Zagreb collaborated on green ammonia research for the sustainable transformation of power plants. This project ended in 2021, but student exchanges between the institutions continue.
There are very few high-risk collaborations overall. The most notable include a project on induced and maximal matchings in graphs between Northwestern Polytechnic University and the University of Zagreb, and a joint research initiative between the Institute of Physics in Zagreb and the Beijing Institute of Technology on novel low-dimensional materials for information applications, which ended in 2021. The Ruđer Bošković Institute and the University of Electronic Science and Technology of China conducted joint research on developing solvent-resistant halohydrin dehalogenase for producing bioactive compounds, spanning the fields of biochemistry, enzymology, microbiology, biotechnology, organic chemistry, chemical engineering, pharmaceutical sciences, and environmental science.
While several of these Chinese institutions are connected to China’s national defense industry, none of the aforementioned collaborations are explicitly tied to defense objectives. However, their dual-use potential cannot be ruled out. Currently, the Croatian state does not issue any guidelines on cooperation with authoritarian regimes, and all responding institutions stated that they do not have their own internal risk assessment procedures.
The University of Zagreb hosts a Confucius Institute (CI) in partnership with Shanghai University of Business, established in 2012. Before this, the university’s Faculty of Philosophy had offered Chinese Mandarin language classes with support from the Center for Language Education and Cooperation (under the Chinese Ministry of Education) and the Chinese Embassy in Zagreb, which provided two instructors. The same faculty offered lectures in Sinology until 2024, when a formal Sinology program was launched in partnership with Tianjin International Chinese College and the CI in Zagreb. The faculty member who had previously taught Chinese-related subjects now serves as the CI’s Director. In addition to language courses and cultural events, the CI provides connections between Croatia and China in business, tourism, and government. The Director is also a business owner of a consultancy firm and a former member of the community of experts for the Croatian Ministry of Science, Education, and Sports.
According to its website, the Sinology department at the University of Zagreb continues to be supported by the CI and the Chinese Embassy. The department promotes post-graduation opportunities in the tourism industry, translation, cultural and business advisory roles, diplomacy, international relations, Chinese companies, and media. China Scholarship Council programs and other study opportunities in China are also advertised, along with advisory support for Croatian businesses interested in the Chinese market.
Due to the close institutional ties between Confucius Institute and Croatian public universities, the Chinese Embassy in Zagreb has reportedly sought to influence academic content. According to a report by the Prague Security Studies Institute, the embassy attempted to block scholarly activities involving Taiwan and protested against a course on East Asia that treated Taiwan as a separate country from the People’s Republic of China.
Academic influence on Croatia’s business and politics
The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has cultivated significant influence within the University of Zagreb’s Sinology Department by fostering connections with the Confucius Institute (CI), which serve as conduits to Croatia’s business community and political sphere, shaping knowledge of China and East Asia through a pro-Beijing narrative. According to ASPI, CIs are government-operated entities subject to oversight by the United Front Work Department, the CCP’s primary vehicle for propaganda and influence abroad. As a result of such concerns, numerous CIs have been closed across the EU and particularly in the United States, and several EU member states have issued guidelines on research cooperation with authoritarian regimes.
In Croatia, university students, businesses, politicians, and members of the public interested in Chinese history, culture, language, business opportunities, or political affairs are most likely to turn to local institutions. However, research indicates that no impartial entity currently exists in Croatia to provide citizens with pragmatic, balanced knowledge of China.
Recommendations
Croatia, though small, holds strategic importance due to its geopolitical location and membership in the EU, NATO, and various international organizations. This positioning makes it a potential target for malign foreign influence, where it could be leveraged as a pawn to sway decision-making in larger institutions to the benefit of external actors. For Croatia’s political and business elite, the Chinese market and opportunities in infrastructure and technological development may appear attractive and benign. However, such engagements carry significant long-term security risks and strategic implications for Croatia, the EU, and NATO. These must be carefully assessed as the Croatian government determines the future scope and nature of its relations with China.
- Croatian security and intelligence services must strengthen their understanding of China’s global strategy, as well as its disinformation and influence operations, by consulting with EU and NATO allies that have taken proactive measures and possess in-depth expertise on China. In the academic sphere, Croatia could look to Denmark as an example. This year, Denmark began implementing a screening system for incoming researchers, international research collaborations, faculty travel, and critical research activities involving countries deemed a national security risk. These include Russia, Iran, and China. The Netherlands, Belgium, and Germany are also considering similar measures.
- The Croatian government must proactively review and align with the EU’s guidelines on research security and collaboration with international partners. In parallel, relevant security services and government agencies should coordinate efforts to establish a formal collaboration mechanism with universities. This would serve as a foundation for raising awareness and developing a deeper understanding of China’s tactics and strategic objectives within the academic and research sectors.
- The University of Zagreb’s Faculty of Philosophy should reevaluate its Sinology department to ensure that the teaching and study of Sinology are conducted independently of influence from China. This would avoid the promotion of pro-Beijing narratives. As an alternative—or in addition to its existing partnerships with Chinese institutions — the department could consider establishing academic cooperation with Taiwanese universities.
Explore more data on Croatia-China academic engagements here.
