Georgi CHANKOV
A little more than a month after Ursula von der Leyen brought together Bulgaria and the so-called “Middle Corridor“ in one statement, the Foreign Minister of the PRC, Wang Yi, is touring key points on this section of the strategic project “Belt and Road“: Azerbaijan, Croatia, Montenegro. It landed in Sofia and for good reason.
Because of the war that the European Union (isn't it?) is waging against Russia, the northern branch of the ”Belt and Road” has become unsafe for trade caravans, despite the geographical and administrative advantages. (Two or three borders.) The “Middle Transport Corridor” through Central Asia, the Caspian Sea, the South Caucasus, with a possible outlet in Bulgaria, has taken over part of the goods flow - 4.5 million for 2025, with the volume expected to reach 10 million tons per year. Indeed, the “Northern Corridor” has a capacity of over 100 million tons, but after the freeze with Russia, it mainly serves its trade with China, and transit cargo to the EU fell to only 3.7 million tons. Because of the difficult geography and the many borders, shipments along the “Middle Corridor” are almost twice as slow, but twice as expensive.
But in its crusade for freedom and democracy, the EU seems ready to pay the price. And it becomes curious whether the statement of the President of the European Commission has any connection with the visit of the Chinese Foreign Minister to Bulgaria, given that such visits have been prepared for months and seal already ready-made agreements. If Bulgaria has been granted some freedom of action in the eastern direction, and not only by land, this should soon become clear.
For now, at the Brussels level, the Chinese project “Belt and Road“ continues to cause mental paralysis. The EU cannot yet decide whether China is a strategic ally or a strategic adversary and what the European market would look like without Chinese goods - the same ones that soften the effects of inflation. (Including for consumers who lose their jobs because they can't resist Chinese competition.) Indeed, in 2021, the EU put on the table an alternative project, the "Global Gateway", which was supposed to raise 300 billion euros for digital connectivity, transportation, energy, the ubiquitous climate, etc. Part of the efforts were (and still are) directed at Central Asia and the energy and raw material deposits there, without which the economy of the 21st century will not be the same. But the usual bureaucratic slowness and the lessons inherent in the Eurocrat about "transparency" and "human rights" in communicating with partners plunged the project into a bottomless sea of files. The need to financially nourish the Ukrainian "patient" and completely dried up the financial flow, which is already thinning out in wartime conditions.
At the same time, the Chinese are working, as usual, patiently and unobtrusively, but with a long-term strategy. Especially in Eastern Europe. Both the member states and the candidate countries for membership in the union, the Chinese are offering trade and investment, with conditions good enough for anyone who can do their math. For some time, this was happening within the framework of the multilateral platform 16 + 1. But the suspicion of the European Commission and the strained relations between Russia and most Eastern European countries caused some of the latter to hide behind the union's common trade policy towards China. Others - to focus more on bilateral ties.
Eight of them - Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Serbia and Slovakia participated in the Ministerial Meeting on Science and Technology Innovation on September 9, this year, in Ningbo City, Zhejiang Province, PRC - a joint event of the Ministry of Science and Technology of China and the Ministry of Economy of Slovakia. Poland and Bulgaria sent only academic representatives to the accompanying “China-Central and Eastern Europe (CEEC) Innovation Cooperation Think Tank Roundtable 2026“, organized by the China-CEEC Innovation Cooperation Research Center and Ningbo University of Technology.
The goals of the events, which brought together a total of 450 participants, were as follows: coordinating science and technology policies and building open innovation ecosystems, deepening dialogue and exchange, and ultimately bringing cooperation between China and Central and Eastern European countries to a higher level of development.
This information sounds dry and official enough and was easily ignored by the major media in Bulgaria. Unfounded, however: since 2021, Ningbo has organized five similar events, emphasizing scientific and technical cooperation between China and the CEE countries.
The city of Ningbo itself, which some in Bulgaria have not yet heard of, deserves special attention: with its (only) 9 million inhabitants, it was for a long time in the shadow of Shanghai, located just 2 hours north of it. But today Ningbo is among the fastest growing cities in China, with an advantage for high industrial technologies - optics, consumer electronics, electrical engineering, automobiles, etc. And most importantly: the port of Ningbo – For 15 years in a row, Zhoushan has been the largest port in the world in terms of total cargo turnover, measured in tons of cargo.
Because the "Belt and Road" is not just a network of land roads. In ancient times, the "Maritime Silk Road" began from the Yong River, which gave life to the city. (Amazing things about it are told in the China Port Museum there.) Today, Ningbo returns to its history in the new edition of the aforementioned "Maritime Road". And in China's foreign policy, the city is assigned the role of coordinator of relations with Central and Eastern Europe. (Interesting detail - the Chinese Cultural Center in Sofia is a joint work of the Ministry of Culture of China and the Ningbo Municipality.)
Will Bulgarian ports welcome more and more goods loaded at the mouth of the Yong River? Will the high-speed trains from the “Middle Corridor” pass through Bulgarian stations? The very near future will tell. In the 16 +1 format, Bulgaria did not go too far, even when it was the host in 2018. External “well-wishers“ recommended us “caution“ regarding possible joint ventures.
On the other hand, visits by Bulgarian ministers, entrepreneurs and scientists to the “Celestial Kingdom“ have become more frequent in the last 5 years. In 2025, the then Deputy Prime Minister A. Zafirov shook up our political landscape with his visits to Beijing, Shanghai and Ningbo and reminded of the good moments in the short history of relations between Bulgaria and the PRC. While the World War is going on on several fronts, some are already making far-sighted decisions regarding the future world order. Varna and Burgas can be two of the doors between the East and the West. It is in the interest of peace and tranquility that they remain wide open, and not walled up by directives and regulations.