Plamen Tonchev

Mr Tonchev’s work in the area of Chinese studies dates back to the 1990s, when he co-authored the monograph “China in East Asia: From Isolation to a Regional Superpower Status” (IIER, 1998). Since then, he has been working in the area of Chinese studies for more than a quarter of a century as a researcher and lecturer. Mr Tonchev has given a number of lectures at European and Asian universities and think-tanks. On two occasions (2019 and 2024), Mr Tonchev acted as a lecturer in training courses for EU officials on EU-China relations, organised by the European Institute of Public Administration (EIPA). In 2019, he delivered a series of seminars on EU-China relations at the China Foreign Affairs University (CFAU) in Beijing. In 2022, Mr Tonchev took part in an international conference and presented a paper on “China’s Role in Eurasian Geopolitics” at the National Chung-Hsing University (NCHU) in Taichung, Taiwan. In 2022 and 2023, Mr Tonchev acted as a lecturer in training courses for staffers from U.S. embassies across Europe. In 2023, he took part in an international conference at the Academy of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, and presented a paper on “China's Soft Power Campaigns in Europe”.

Mr Tonchev has been recruited by the European Commission as an external expert in Asian affairs on very many occasions. Thus, he has served on EU election observation missions to Azerbaijan, Cambodia, Indonesia, East Timor, Aceh, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, etc. In addition, he has traveled on EU development aid assessment missions to Southeast Asia, South Asia, Central Asia and the People's Republic of China.

Mr Tonchev’s work in the area of Chinese studies dates back to the 1990s, when he co-authored the monograph “China in East Asia: From Isolation to a Regional Superpower Status” (IIER, 1998). 

The list of Mr Tonchev's recent publications on China includes:

- “Chinese Investment in Greece and the Big Picture of Sino-Greek Relations” (co-authored, IIER, 2017);

- "China's Road: Into the Western Balkans" (EU Institute for Security Studies - EUISS, 2017);

- “China’s Image in Greece: 2008-2018” (IIER, 2018);

- "Along the Road: Sri Lanka's Tale of Two Ports" (EUISS, 2018);

- “Chinese Investment in Greek and Sri Lankan Sea Ports: Analogies and Lessons Learned” (Lakshman Kadirgamar Institute, 2019);

- “China’s Shift to a New Economic Model: From Quantitative to Qualitative Growth?” (Academy of the Kingdom of Morocco, 2019);

- “China’s Soft Power in Southeast Europe” (Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, 2020);

- “Impact of COVID-19 on ASEM Connectivity” (co-authored, European Commission, 2020);

- “Sino-Greek Relations in Greek and Chinese Media, 2020” (IIER, 2021);

- “The Chinese Golden Visa Rush in Greece” (Chinese Observers in Central and Eastern Europe – CHOICE, 2021)

- “Chinese Influence in Greece” (Center for European Policy Analysis, 2022)

- “Chinese Investments in European Maritime Infrastructure” (contribution to a report commissioned by the European Parliament, 2023)

- “Where’s Post-Election Taiwan Heading?” (University of Nottingham, 2024)

- “Self-Image as a Factor in the China-Taiwan Stand-Off” (lecture delivered at Ming Chuan University in Taiwan and published by IIER, 2024);

- “Can the Self-Concept Theory Shed Light on the Tense Relations between the PRC and Taiwan?” (University of Nottingham, upcoming, 2024).