Chinese cash now reaches all of Central and Eastern Europe

Caixin reports that with Chinese Premier Li Keqiang’s 李克强 visit to Budapest, Hungary, and the announcement of agreements with Estonia, Slovenia, and Lithuania, China’s Belt and Road Initiative is set to “expand to include all 16 central and eastern European countries (CEEC).”

• China and the CEEC countries also announced the establishment of a China-CEEC Inter-Bank Association, which will receive $2.4 billion in funds from the China Development Bank.
• While Li was in Budapest, Chinese and Serbian officials also formally launched the construction of a multibillion-dollar railway — majority-financed by China — between Hungary and Serbia, the AP reports.  

China’s investments in the region have not been without controversy.

• The Financial Times notes (paywall) that the Hungary-Serbia railway has “triggered an investigation by the [European Commission] into whether the project violated EU laws,” because it was not opened to competitive tender.
• Additionally, a Chinese-funded highway in Macedonia has run into trouble with that country’s transport and communication ministry.

Then there’s the political angle. A different article (paywall) in the FT, titled “Eastern Europe welcomes China investment promise,” notes contrasting views:

• Some analysts, such as Tomas Valasek of Carnegie Europe, say that China’s investments in CEEC are “a curiosity” compared with the “all-defining political and economic reality” of EU membership.

• But European diplomats say that China’s influence in Europe is being heard clearly through CEEC states, who “insisted on watering down an EU statement” on the South China Sea last year, while Hungary and Greece have more recently “told their partners in the [EU] that they would not support statements critical of China’s human rights record.”

• Fakes
  Chinese police swoop on fake Peppa Pig toothbrush factories / SCMP
  Police in Yangzhou, Jiangsu Province, “seized more than 200,000 toothbrushes, 100,000 tubes of toothpaste and 20,000 shampoo bottles emblazoned with the British cartoon character.”
• Electric cars
  Exclusive: Daimler rebuffs Geely offer to buy stake; Geely still hopeful of a deal – sources / Reuters
  “People with knowledge of Geely’s thinking said the company was keen to access Daimler’s electric car battery technology and wanted to establish an electric car joint venture in Wuhan, the capital of Hubei Province.”
• PC and mobile business woes
  Lenovo sells off more real estate as core business struggles / Caixin
  The mobile phone and PC maker has sold “a Wuhan research and development (R&D) facility” to a real estate company. This is Lenovo’s “latest disposal of a real estate asset this year amid lackluster earnings.”