2. Belt and Road Initiative
•The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI, or B&R), formerly known
as One Belt One Road (一带一路) or OBOR for short, is a global
infrastructure development strategy adopted by the Chinese
government in 2013 to invest in nearly 70 countries and
international organizations. The BRI forms a central component
of Xi Jinping's "Major Country Diplomacy" (大国外交) strategy,
which calls for China to assume a greater leadership role for
global affairs in accordance with its rising power and status. The
Belt and road initiative combines two initiatives.
1. The (land based) Silk Road Economic Belt, comprising six development
corridors
2. The 21st Century Maritime Silk Road
3.
4. Belt and Road Initiative
• The initiative was incorporated into
the Constitution of China in 2017. The Chinese
government calls the initiative "a bid to enhance
regional connectivity and embrace a brighter
future." The project has a target completion date
of 2049.
6. Belt and Road Initiative
• BRI is a global initiative but by its nature of building on
the historic Silk Road puts a major focus on countries
in Asia, Eastern Africa, Eastern Europe and the Middle
East, a region mainly composed of emerging markets.
71 countries are taking part in the Initiative, together
representing more than a third of the world`s GDP
and two thirds of the world`s population.
7. Belt and Road Initiative
The Silk Road Economic Belt is a long-term vision for the
infrastructural development, connectivity and economic cooperation
of Eurasia and is spanning six development “corridors”, namely:
1. New Eurasian Land Bridge Economic Corridor (NELBEC)
2. China – Mongolia – Russia Economic Corridor (CMREC)
3. China – Central Asia – West Asia Economic Corridor (CCWAEC)
4. China – Indochina Peninsula Economic Corridor (CICPEC)
5. Bangladesh – China – India – Myanmar Economic
Corridor (BCIMEC)
6. China – Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC)
8. BRI and US
• US has been critical to Belt and Road initiative since its
inception and regarded it as debt trap for the
participant countries.
• U.S. President Joe Biden and other G7 leaders hope
their plan, known as the Build Back Better World
(B3W) initiative, will provide a transparent
infrastructure partnership to help narrow the $40
trillion needed by developing nations by 2035, the
White House said.
9. BRI and Japan
Tokyo has a similar strategy, balancing its interest in
regional infrastructure development with long-standing
suspicions about China. In 2016, Japan committed to
spending $110 billion on infrastructure projects
throughout Asia. Japan has, with India, also agreed to
develop the Asia-Africa Growth Corridor (AAGC), a plan
to develop and connect ports from Myanmar to East
Africa.
10. BRI and India
India has tried to convince countries that the BRI is a
plan to dominate Asia, warning of what some analysts
have called a “String of Pearls” geoeconomic strategy
whereby China creates unsustainable debt burdens for
its Indian Ocean neighbours in order to seize control of
regional choke points. In particular, New Delhi has long
been unsettled by China’s decades-long embrace of its
traditional rival, Pakistan.
11. BRI and Europe
Several countries in Central and Eastern Europe have accepted BRI financing,
and Western European states such as Italy, Luxembourg, and Portugal have
signed provisional agreements to cooperate on BRI projects. Their leaders
frame cooperation as a way to invite Chinese investment and potentially
improve the quality of competitive construction bids from European and
U.S. firms.
Others disagree. French President Emmanuel Macron has urged prudence,
suggesting during a 2018 trip to China that the BRI could make partner
countries “vassal states.” Other sceptics connect the BRI with climate
change. The Institute of International Finance, a research group that
analyzes risk for large Western banks, has reported that 85 percent of BRI
projects can be linked to high levels of greenhouse gas emissions. Others
claim that China is using BRI funds to gain influence in Balkan countries that
are on track to become EU members, thereby providing Chinese access to
the heart of the European Union’s common market.
12. Potential Risks of BRI corridor
1.Infrastructure and policy gaps in Belt and Road corridor economies hinder
trade and foreign investment. New infrastructure can help close these gaps,
but it is costly—and investments are occurring in the context of rising public
debt (Pakistan rising debt)
2. BRI transport projects can expand trade, increase foreign investment, and
reduce poverty—by lowering trade costs. Yet, for some countries, the costs
of new infrastructure could outweigh the gains (Lahore Subway).
3. The BRI presents risks common to large infrastructure projects. These
risks could be exacerbated by the limited transparency and openness of the
initiative and the weak economic fundamentals and governance of several
participating countries.
4. Risks posed by security threats to foreign investment.
