Insights in Western Balkans

Chinese Tourism in the Balkans: Divergent Recoveries and Emerging Regional Patterns

PAID CONTENT

Chinese tourism is returning to Southeast Europe. However, this process is developing unevenly. Serbia and Montenegro have surged past their pre‑pandemic peaks, Bosnia and Albania show strong momentum, while Croatia and North Macedonia continue to rebuild. These differences reveal deeper structural factors shaping China’s presence in the region: visa regimes, connectivity, political alignment, and the enduring appeal of multi-country itineraries. Understanding these dynamics is essential for...

• Tourism, Western Balkans, Travel

The Western Balkans integration in China’s trade policy

PAID CONTENT

During 2025 we can find a noticeable increase in Chinese trade with the Western Balkans. Still, the trade imbalance continues to shift in favor of China. We see certain changes in the region’s destinations that are drawing the most attention from China. Leading countries such as Serbia reinforced bilateral trade with Chinese companies, while others such as – Albania and Bosnia and Hercegovina - show slow signs of re‑appearing from low points of departure. In Kosovo, “imports from China havedoubl...

• Trade, Deficit, Western Balkans

Who Sets the Rules? Chinese AI and the Western Balkans’ Dilemma

PAID CONTENT

China’s approach to artificial intelligence (AI) development is structurally different from that of the United States and, at least for now, from the European Union, whose AI development efforts remain fragmented and primarily regulatory in nature. Rather than treating AI primarily as a market-driven exercise, Beijing frames AI as a core component of national power and long-term geopolitical competition. This framing feeds directly into China’s broader geopolitical strategy and its ambition to...

• AI, Western Balkans, Technology