The new policy, paper prepared by CEIAS in collaboration with the Association for International Affairs, provides a comprehensive account of Czech and Slovak paradiplomatic activity towards China.
Classifying and investigating sub-national relations plays a crucial role in our understanding of China-Europe relations and the actors involved in them. With China becoming an increasingly salient topic of discussion in Czech and Slovak politics, we aim to zoom in on the increasing importance of paradiplomatic relations of municipal and regional administrations with their Chinese counterparts.
To this end, we have conducted an extensive mapping of interactions with China on the sub-national level in Czechia and Slovakia.
The study takes into account the 8 self-governing regions of Slovakia and 13 self-governing regions of Czechia and the capital city Prague. On the municipal level, we have investigated the ties with China among 79 county-level cities in Slovakia. In Czechia, the study included 205 municipalities with extended powers. Given the particularities of municipal organization in some larger cities (e.g. Prague in Czechia, or Bratislava and Košice in Slovakia), we have also considered their districts as independent actors, given that they elect their mayors and councils, and perform independent self-governance functions. In Bratislava, 17 such municipal districts were included. A study done in Košice included 22 districts. Similarly, in Prague, 22 districts were included in the study.
The publication is supported by the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom. The Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom is not responsible for the content of this publication, or for any use that may be made of it. The views expressed herein are those of the author(s) alone. These views do not necessarily reflect those of the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom.
