Cooperation of German cities with Chinese partners and its importance for Germany’s foreign policy


Abstrakt

The 21st century is a time of enormous development of cities as political, economic and social actors actively shaping the global scene. Among them German cities are important actors on the international political arena, as they have extensive competences to conduct foreign policy, resulting from the federal system. Over the past years, contacts of German cities with Chinese entities have experienced a particularly dynamic development. For German cities their Chinese partners have become both cooperators in terms of administrative and economic solutions, but also more and more often collaborators on educational and cultural issues.
The aim of this article is, thus, to map the connections between German and Chinese cities, and then to refer to the place which international relations conducted by sub-state entities find in foreign policy implemented at the federal level. The starting point for the analysis is the presentation of the role of city diplomacy, and then results of a survey conducted among officials representing German cities inhabited by at least 50,000 people. The author will present the conditions of bilateral cooperation between cities, key areas of cooperation, determinants of success and the most common problems. In the last part, the author will analyze the role played by cities in the German political reality. In this way, the author will indicate whether the actions towards Chinese partners are coordinated with other institutions at the regional and national level.


Acuto M., Global cities, governance, and diplomacy, Routledge, London 2013.

Acuto M., Global cities. Gorillas in our midst, “Alternatives: Global, Local, Political” 2010, vol. 35(4).

Agnew J., The territorial trap. The geographical assumptions of international relations theory, “Review of International Political Economy” 1994, no. 1(1).

Alger C. F., The world relations of cities. Closing the gap between social science paradigms and everyday human experience, “International Studies Quarterly” 1990, vol. 34(4).

Athenstaedt Ch., Die Kompetenzverteilung in der deutschen staatlichen Entwicklungszusammenarbeit Zur Zulässigkeit entwicklungspolitischer Maßnahmen deutscher Bundesländer und Kommunen, Herbert Utz Verlag, München 2011.

Barber B., If mayors ruled the world. Dysfunctional nations, rising cities, Yale University Press, New Haven 2013.

Bulmer S., Jeffery Ch., Paterson W.E., Germany’s European diplomacy. Shaping the regional milieu, Manchester University Press, Manchester 2010.

Ciesielska-Klikowska J., Germany’s attitude towards the Belt and Road Initiative. The impact of non-state actors on German foreign policy towards China, [in:] The Belt and Road Initiative. An old archetype of a new development model, eds P. A. B. Duarte, F. B. S. José Leandro, Springer, Singapore 2020.

Cornago N., On the normalisation of sub-state diplomacy, “The Hague Journal of Diplomacy” 2010, vol. 5 (1–2).

Cornago N., Plural diplomacies: Normative predicaments and functional imperatives, Martinus Nijhoff Publishers (Diplomatic Studies, 8), Leiden 2013.

Curtis S., Cities and global governance. State failure or a new global order?, “Millennium” 2016, vol. 44(3).

Dijkstra L., Poelman H., Cities in Europe. The new OECD-EC Definition, European Commission, Regional Focus, nr 01/2012.

Duchacek I., The international dimension of subnational self-government, “The Journal of Federalism” 1984, vol. 14, issue 4.

Friedmann J., The world city hypothesis, “Development and Change” 1986, vol. 17(1).

Fulda A., The emergence of citizen diplomacy in European Union-China relations: principles, pillars, pioneers, paradoxes, “Diplomacy & Statecraft” 2019, vol. 30 (1).

Goette A., Gao Q., Deutsch-chinesische Kommunalbeziehungen, Servicestelle Kommunen in der einen Welt (Dialog Global, 19), Bonn 2019.

Held U., Merkle R., Deutsch-chinesische Kommunalbeziehungen. Motivationen, Strukturen, Aktionsfelder, Servicestelle Kommunen in der einen Welt (Dialog Global, 19), Bonn 2008.

Hocking B., Patrolling the ‘frontier’. Globalization, localization and the ‘actorness’ of non-central governments, [in:] Paradiplomacy in action. The foreign relations of subnational governments, eds F. Aldecoa, M. Keating, Routledge, London–New York 1999.

Huimin S., Yi W., Chuntai W., Lu H., China’s relations with West European countries, “Studia Diplomatica” 1996, vol. 49 (4/5).

Jeffery C., Recasting German federalism. The legacies of unification, Friedrich Ebert Stiftung, London 1999.

Kamiński T., Ciesielska-Klikowska J., Germany, [in:] The role of regions in EU-China relations, ed. T. Kamiński, Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Łódzkiego, Łódź, 2021.

Kamiński T., Ciesielska-Klikowska J., The sub-national dimension of the European Union’s relations with China: A Solution for Tough Times?, [in:] Europe in an era of growing Sino-American competition. Coping with an unstable triangle, eds S. Biba, R. Wolf, Routledge, London 2021.

Keohane R., Nye J., Power and interdependence, “Survival” 1973, vol. 15:4.,

Keohane R., Nye J., Power and interdependence. World politics in transition, Little, Brown and Company, Boston 1989.

Kuznetsov A. S., Theory and practice of paradiplomacy. Subnational governments in international affairs, Routledge, London–New York 2015.

Langenohl A., Town twinning, transnational connections, and trans-local citizenship practices in Europe, Palgrave Macmillan, Basingstoke 2016.

Leonardy U., The institutional structures of German federalism, London 1999 (electronic ed.), available at [accessed: 20 IV 2021]: <http://library.fes.de/fulltext/bueros/london/00538007.htm#E10E15>.

Ljungkvist K., The global city 2.0. From strategic site to global actor, Routledge, London 2015.

Michelmann H. J., Länder paradiplomacy, “German Politics & Society” 1988, no. 15.

Michelmann H. J., Soldatos P., Federalism and international relations. The role of subnational units, Clarendon Press Publication, Oxford 1991.

Mierzejewski D., China’s provinces and the Belt and Road Initiative, Routledge, London 2021.

Migration, urbanization, and development. New directions and issues, ed. R. E. Bilsborrow , Springer, Dordrecht 1998.

Morgenthau H., Politics among nationsMcGraw-Hill, New York, 1949.

Nagel K.-J., Foreign policy: the case of the German lander, [in:] Foreign policy of constituent units at the beginning of 21st century, ed. F. Requejo, Generalitat de Catalunya, Institut d’Estudis Autonòmics, Barcelona 2010.

Nijman J. E., Renaissance of the city as global actor, [in:] The transformation of foreign policy, eds G. Hellmann, A. Fahrmeir, M. Vec,Oxford University Press, Oxford 2016.

Parkes R., City diplomacy. The EU’s hidden capacity to act, available at [accessed: 27 IV 2021]: <https://dgap.org/en/research/publications/city-diplomacy>.

Parysek J. J., Duże miasta Europy i ich rola w procesie urbanizacji, rozwoju społeczno-gospodarczego i europejskiej integracji u schyłku xx wieku, „Przegląd Geograficzny” 1995, T. LXVII, z. 3–4.

Pigman G. A., Contemporary diplomacy, Polity Press, Cambridge 2010.

Plöhn J., Steffani W., Bund und Länder in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland, [in:] Handbuch der deutschen Bundesländer (2nd ed.), ed. J. Hartmann, Bundeszentr.für Polit. Bildung, Bonn 1994.

Roters J., Wolf F., Städtekooperation und Städtediplomatie im Nahen Osten am Beispiel der Stadt Köln, „Zeitschrift für Außen- und Sicherheitspolitik“ 2013, vol. 6, no. 3,.

Schiavon J. A., Comparative paradiplomacy, Routledge, Abingdon–Oxon–New York 2018.

Schweizer R. J., Brunner S. C., Die Mitwirkung der Bundesländer an EU-Vorhaben in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland und in Österreich: ein Modell für die Mitwirkung der Kantone in der Aussenpolitik, Stämpfli Verlag AG, Bern 1998.

Skorupska A., Szczudlik J., EU-China paradiplomacy – the perspective of cities, regions and provinces, [in:] The role of regions in EU-China relations, ed. T. Kamiński, Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Łódzkiego, Łódź, 2021.

Soldatos P., An explanatory framework for the study of federal states as foreign-policy actors, [in:] Federalism and international relations, eds H. J. Michelmann, P. Soldatos, Clarendon Press, Oxford 1990.

Statz A., Wohlfarth Ch., Kommunale Partnerschaften und Netzwerke. Ein Beitrag zu einer transnationalen Politik der Nachhaltigkeit, Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung, Berlin 2010.

Szmigiera M., Urbanization by continent. Degree of urbanization (percentage of urban population in total population) by continent in 2020, Statista 2021, available at [accessed: 26 VII 2021]: <https://www.statista.com/statistics/270860/urbanization-by-continent/>.

Szymańska D., Urbanizacja na świecie, Wydawnictwo Naukowe PWN, Warszawa 2008.

Tacoli C., Migration and inclusive urbanization, United Nations Expert Group Meeting on Sustainable Cities, Human Mobility and International Migration, un/pop/egm/2017/6, 5 September 2017.

Tavares R., Paradiplomacy, cities and states as global players, Oxford University Press, New York 2016.

Trzcielińska-Polus A., Samorządowy wymiar polityki zagranicznej regionów (na przykładzie Śląska Opolskiego), „Pogranicze. Polish Borderland Studies“ 2015, vol. 3, no. 2.

Waltz K., Theory of international politics, Waveland Press, Chicago 1979.

Wimmer A., Glick-Schiller N., Methodological nationalism and beyond: nation–state building, migration and the social sciences, “Global Networks” 2002, vol. 2 (4).

Współpraca transgraniczna Unii Europejskiej. Doświadczenia Polski i Niemiec, eds G. Gorzelak, J. Bachtler, M. Kasprzyk, Wydawnictwo Naukowe Scholar, Warszawa 2004.

Ziebura G., Die deutsch-französischen Beziehungen seit 1945. Mythen und Realitäten, Klett-Cotta, Stuttgart 1997.

Ziegler E. A., Kommunale Außenpolitik, [in:] Freunde reden Tacheles. Der Beitrag der Städte zur Außenpolitik am Beispiel Deutschland-Israel, ed. E. A. Ziegler, Verlag P. Hammer, Wuppertal 1992.


Opublikowane : 2021-10-22


Ciesielska-Klikowska, J. (2021). Cooperation of German cities with Chinese partners and its importance for Germany’s foreign policy. Sprawy Międzynarodowe, 74(1), 119-151. https://doi.org/10.35757/SM.2021.74.1.06

Joanna Ciesielska-Klikowska  joanna.ciesielska@uni.lodz.pl
Uniwersytet Łódzki  Polska
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0938-5771