China’s Economic Diplomacy: A Comparative Approach to Sino-Greek and Sino-Turkish relations
Pantelis Sklias, Spyros Roukanas, Victoria Pistikou

Abstract
The purpose of this article is to highlight the particular impact of China’s economic diplomacy on its attempt to maximise its power in the global economic and political system and to achieve its foreign policy objectives. We argue that the realist framework of analysis is the appropriate one in order to comprehend and assess China’s foreign economic policy. We examine the bilateral economic relations that China has developed with both Greece and Turkey, two countries which appear to have conflicting political and economic interests. Greece and Turkey are situated in a geo-strategically and geo-economically critical location, and are the gateway between West and East and vice versa. This article will show that, at a time of international financial crisis which has seriously affected Europe, China is promoting its own economic and political agenda by using various economic diplomacy practices. It is increasing its degree of influence and is upgrading the role it plays in the European continent. We will show that it is achieving its objective of ‘invasion’ via agreements and investments in the most important and definitive economic sectors in Greece and Turkey which are none other than shipping and energy. We reach the conclusion that China’s aim is to change the balance of power in the region in order to increase its own power and to improve its own role in the international system.

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