Modern-day Silk Road Effort Could Challenge US Influence in Asia, Africa, Mideast
China's "one belt and one road" initiative could usher in a new era that sees China as the undisputed geopolitical powerhouse in the region, experts say.
The initiative will establish new routes linking Asia, Europe and Africa. It has two parts — a new "Silk Road economic belt" linking China to Europe that cuts through mountainous regions in Central Asia; and the "maritime Silk Road" that links China's port facilities with the African coast and than pushes up through the Suez Canal into the Mediterranean Sea.
Chinese President Xi Jinping revealed during a speech at the Boao Forum on March 28 in Hainan, China, that China intends to push forward on the initiative that many are comparing to the ancient Silk Road.
"The idea of one belt and one road is based mainly on the economy, but has political and strategic components and implications," said Zhuang Jianzhong, vice director of Shanghai Jiao Tong University's Center for National Strategy Studies. "It aims for the joint development, common prosperity and for energy security, too."
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China’s ‘One Belt/One Road’ Policy Is Open to All Nations
China's Belt-Road Initiative
In 2013, President Xi Jinping of China called for joint development of an “Economic Belt along the Silk Road” and a “Maritime Silk Road of the 21st Century.” The “Belt” and the “Road” are two major initiatives that China has made to deepen reform, and open up and advance its neighborhood diplomacy. They have been written into the documents of the Third Plenum of the 18th CPC Central Committee, the Meeting on Neighborhood Diplomacy, and the Central Economic Work Conference, and have been enthusiastically received both at home and abroad.
The Belt and the Road initiatives are the continuation and development of the spirit of the ancient Silk Road. Over 2,000 years ago, the industrious and brave people on the Eurasian continent opened several trade routes connecting major civilizations across Asia, Europe, and Africa. Together, they were referred to as the “Silk Road” by succeeding generations. Despite repeated strife and wars in Eurasia, traffic on the Silk Road never completely stopped. Such links of mutual emulation via the Silk Road made exchanges of goods, know-how, people, and ideas possible; promoted the economic, cultural, and social progress in the various countries; facilitated dialogue and integration of different civilizations; and left behind brilliant pages in human history.
Moving into the 21st Century, an era that is dominated by the themes of peace, development, and cooperation, but continues to feature a complex international and regional landscape, the Silk Road has become all the more important and precious as a symbol of peace, cooperation, openness, inclusiveness, mutual learning, and resilience.
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China's One Belt One Road Initiative: Opportunities for ASEAN Energy Market
China’s Silk Road Economic Belt and a 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, an initiative commonly known today as One Belt One Road, has been planned as the largest and most comprehensive development project in human history, directly affecting a population of 4.4 billion people with a collective GDP of 2 trillion dollars.
As part of its goals, this initiative aims to address the $800 billion annual financing shortfall in infrastructure investment Asia will be facing in the coming decade with much of the need being in the energy sector: upstream projects, oil and gas pipelines, LNG terminals, high voltage power lines, nuclear power, renewable energy and other energy projects. With high levels of energy poverty and the pressing need for energy infrastructure investment coupled with the desire for increased regional energy connectivity, ASEAN will be the center of China’s Belt-Road project.
The roundtable will explore ASEAN’s energy investment needs and the opportunities the Belt-Road initiative offers the region. It will also assess the implications of China’s growing engagement in South East Asia for energy security, investment climate and pollution reduction. The roundtable will focus on the following questions:
What are the most immediate priorities for energy infrastructure investment and energy connectivity in ASEAN?
What is the role of China’s newly formed financial institutions, the Silk Road Fund and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), in advancing energy investments in ASEAN?
What can Asian countries do to form a more effective, more integrated and ‘win-win’ energy market?
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ASEAN diplomats welcome China's One Belt, One Road initiative
China has stepped up efforts to sell its ambitious One Belt and One Road initiative, which aims to create multiple economic corridors spanning more than 60 countries across the world.
Recently, the country invited China-based foreign diplomats to tour Fujian, Guangdong and Guangxi Provinces, together forming part of the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road that falls under the One Belt and One Road initiative.
“We are very interested in China’s efforts to share its development model because, as you know, China’s economic miracle is something that has impressed everybody," said Ivan Frank Olea, Minister and consul from the Philippines embassy. "With this One Belt, One Road and Maritime Silk Road, they want to share their development model, as well as share prosperity around the region.”
related: China's One Belt, One Road strategy creates business
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Thai Foreign Ministry explains China's 'One Belt One Road' strategy
The Department of East Asian Affairs under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has reported on China’s “One Belt One Road” solidarity strategy
The department explained that the “One Belt One Road” strategy is a proactive Chinese policy to expand the country’s role and influence on the international stage in counterbalance with the United States. The strategy involves omni-directional cooperation, connecting with all countries in Southeast Asia, the Middle East and Europe.
The progressive policy consists of two initiatives. The first initiative is to develop the New Silk Road Economic Belt, connecting the Middle East, Europe and Africa. The second initiative is the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, connecting China with Southeast Asian countries. The Chinese government also intends to establish the Silk Road Fund and Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank with 40 billion US dollars, to support capacity building in the aforementioned regions.
China is also setting aside 30 million yuan or 157.3 million baht for the China-ASEAN Maritime Cooperation Fund, for joint technological and scientific projects on marine conservation and economic cooperation.
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The “One Belt, One Road” Strategy and China’s Energy Policy in the Middle East
Roots of the “One Belt, One Road” Strategy
The genesis of the “One Belt, One Road” strategy—also known as the Belt and Road Initiative—can be traced to three noteworthy public events that occurred in rapid succession in the latter part of 2013. On September 7, in a speech delivered at Kazakhstan’s Nazarbayev University, Chinese President Xi Jinping proposed building the Silk Road Economic Belt. Addressing the Indonesian parliament on October 3, he recommended that China and Southeast Asian countries work together to revive the Maritime Silk Road. On October 24-25, at a work forum on “periphery diplomacy” held by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in Beijing, Xi stressed that China is committed to forging amicable and mutually beneficial relations with its neighbors, such that they will benefit from Chinese development and China will benefit from a prosperous neighborhood. In this way, the president conceptually linked the notion of the “Chinese dream” to regional development. This conference marked the official birth of China’s “Silk Road strategy.”
A year later, the strategy began to take shape. In October 2014, Beijing committed $50 billion to form the new Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), together with several partner countries. The bank aims to raise $100 billion for infrastructure projects across Asia. On November 8, 2014, Xi said that China would contribute $40 billion to its new Silk Road Fund, which is designed to improve trade and transport links in Asia. In his keynote address at the 2015 Boao Forum for Asia, Xi for the first time explained in depth China’s vision of the Silk Road Economic Belt and Maritime Silk Road. During the forum, China’s National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), in cooperation with the foreign ministry and commerce ministry, issued an action plan for the Belt and Road.
According to the action plan, the Belt and Road will run through Asia, Europe, and Africa, connecting the East Asian economic sphere at one end with the European economies at the other. The Silk Road Economic Belt—a series of land-based infrastructure projects including roads, railways, and pipelines—focuses on strengthening links between China, Central Asia, Russia, and Europe (particularly the Baltic). China will gain improved access to the Persian Gulf and the Mediterranean Sea through Central Asia and West Asia, and to the Indian Ocean through Southeast Asia and South Asia. The 21st-Century Maritime Silk Road is designed as two paths: one from China's coast to Europe through the South China Sea and the Indian Ocean, and the other from China's coast through the South China Sea to the South Pacific region.
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Pakistan and One Belt-One Road
Chinese and Pakistani leaders regularly describe their relationship to be “higher than the Himalayas and deeper than the Indian Ocean”. But the nature of the China-Pakistan relationship is more complicated.
On one hand Pakistan poses is a security threat to Beijing, as groups such as the East Turkestan Islamic Movement(ETIM), responsible for terrorist attacks in China in Beijing and Kunming in 2014, receive training and support on Pakistani territory. On the other hand, Pakistan is becoming an integral piece in China’s One Belt-One Road(Yidai-Yilu) connectivity puzzle.
Gateway House interviewed Dr. Jabin Jacob, assistant director and fellow at the Institute for China Studies, New Delhi, on the relationship between China and Pakistan, the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor(CPEC), as well as China’s Yidai-Yilu initiative and where India fits in.
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China’s Belt and Road Strategy ignores India’s concerns
In March 2015, the Chinese Embassy in New Delhi put out a document titled “Vision and Actions on Jointly Building Silk Road Economic Belt and 21st-Century Maritime Silk Road” on behalf of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Commerce of the People’s Republic of China. The document highlights the initiatives of President Xi Jinping in building the ‘Silk Road Economic Belt’ and ‘Belt and Road’, latter denoting the 21st-Century Maritime Silk Road. In 2013, China had expounded the Maritime Silk Road oriented towards ASEAN, to create strategic propellers for hinterland development. So, now accelerating the building of the Belt and Road is aimed to help economic prosperity and regional economic cooperation. The Belt and Road Initiative aims to promote the connectivity of Asian, European and African continents, and their adjacent seas.
Typical to all Chinese documents, this document too emphasizes that the Belt and Road Initiative is in line with the purposes and principles of the UN Charter, upholding the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence: mutual respect for each other’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, mutual non-aggression, mutual non-interference in each other’s internal affairs, equality and mutual benefit, and peaceful coexistence – an euphemism to dilute the strategic and geopolitical aims of China behind this game.
The Belt and Road initiative is to run through Asia, Europe and Africa, connecting East Asia at one end and Europe at the other, significantly, connecting China with Southeast Asia, South Asia and the Indian Ocean (both through Pakistan) with the 21st-Century Maritime Silk Road designed to go from China’s coast to Europe through the South China Sea and the Indian Ocean in one route, and from China’s coast through the South China Sea to the South Pacific in the other.
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SISU's Middle East Studies Institute joins “One Belt and One Road” think-tank alliance
One Belt, One Road is China's framework for organizing multinational economic development
Representatives of more than 50 top research institutions across China attended the April 8 launch ceremony in Beijing of China’s first “One Belt and One Road” think-tank alliance council, with SISU’s Middle East Studies Institute being one of four think tanks representing Shanghai.
The council aims to develop cooperative research for policy advice for governments of the countries along the “Silk Road Economic Belt” and the “21st Century Maritime Silk Road,” which spans Asia, Africa and Europe.
International cooperation in building up a network of “One Belt and One Road” think tanks was the discussion topic related to an international seminar, held during December 2014 in Istanbul, Turkey. Many international think tanks started joining the “One Belt and One Road” network early this year.
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Chinese Neighbourhood Diplomacy: Afghanistan, Xinjiang and Central Asia
News emerged that one of the most prominent peace envoys of Afghanistan held two-day long secret talks with former Taliban officials in the Chinese city of Urumqi. Taking into account the official unveiling of the Silk Road Economic Belt initiative in Kazakhstan in 2013 by President Xi Jinping, such developments underscore the willingness of the Chinese leadership to play a more prominent role in the region. Indeed, it appears that neighbourhood diplomacy is becoming a foreign policy priority for official Beijing.
As news agencies reported, this secret meeting took place on May 19-20, 2015, in the capital city of the Chinese restive region of Xinjiang. Mohammad Masoom Stanekzai, a close confidant of Afghanistan’s President Ashraf Ghani, led the Afghan delegation. The other side of the table was represented by Mullah Jalil, Mullah Abdul Razaq and Mullah Hassan Rahmani, former members of the old Taliban government in Afghanistan currently residing in Pakistan. People familiar with this meeting confirmed that the secret talks were also attended by Chinese officials and representatives of Pakistan’s spy agency Inter-Services Intelligence directorate.
Such behind-the-scene politics demonstrate that Beijing is willing to undertake the role of mediator in Afghanistan and accelerate regional efforts to bring all engaged parties to the negotiating table. It has been long assumed that China established and maintained direct links to the Taliban prior to the Operation Enduring Freedom. In December 2000, then-Ambassador of China to Pakistan Lu Shulin met with Taliban’s supreme leader Mullah Omar in Kandahar to lobby the Taliban leadership not to support Uighur separatists and ensure the Afghan soil is not used for any destabilisation in Xinjiang. It also appeared that official Beijing was willing to buy peace with the Taliban through economic programmes. There were some contested reports that China has signed a memorandum of understanding on economic and technical cooperation with the Taliban leadership in Kabul in 2001, whilst the delegations of Chinese and Afghan businessmen paid reciprocal visits to Afghanistan and China respectively. Of course, these developments were voided after the events of 9/11, and Beijing preferred to distance itself from Afghanistan.
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Roots of the “One Belt, One Road” Strategy
The Belt and Road Initiative is in line with the purposes and principles of the UN Charter. It upholds the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence: mutual respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity, mutual nonaggression, mutual noninterference in internal affairs, equality and mutual benefit, and peaceful coexistence. The Initiative is intended to be inclusive and to follow market principles.
The “One Belt, One Road” strategy emphasizes international cooperation according to the following five priorities:
Policy coordination
Facilities connectivity
Unimpeded trade
Financial integration (linking economies through institutions such as the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, the BRICS New Development Bank, and the Silk Road Fund)
People-to-people bonds (providing public support for implementation)
China’s strategic coordination with the Arab world is an important part of its “One Belt, One Road” vision, and China has proposed a comprehensive cooperation strategy known as 1+2+3. “One” refers to the need for increased cooperation on energy, covering a range of issues that include oil and natural gas production, ensuring the safety of energy transport routes, and establishing a mutually beneficial, long-term China-Arab energy relationship. “Two” stands for the two wings of infrastructure development, construction and trade/investment facilitation. “Three” relates to breakthroughs that need to be made in the high-tech areas of nuclear energy, aerospace satellites, and new energy in order to upgrade practical cooperation between China and the Arab world.
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Xi’an readies for key role in ‘One Belt, One Road’ initiative
A screen shot from CCTV News shows China's plans for the "One Belt, One Road" initiative
Economic development in Xi'an has long lagged behind China's coastal cities due to its relatively inaccessible inland location. Now, the city is taking advantage of the opportunity to become the starting point for the Silk Road Economic Belt, an initiative proposed by President Xi Jinping in 2013, to refashion itself into China's largest inland port and logistics center.
Once considered one of the greatest ancient capitals of China, modern Xi'an is one of China's most popular tourist destinations and the most industrialized city in Northwest China. Xi'an has the 27th highest per capita income in the country. Economic development in Xi'an, however, has long lagged behind its coastal counterparts like Shanghai, a result of its relatively inaccessible inland location.
The "One Belt, One Road" initiative, proposed by President Xi Jinping in 2013, is China's latest plan to boost regional trade with Central Asia, Russia, Europe, and other regions. The central government has made the plan a centerpiece of both its foreign policy and domestic economic strategy, with potentially game-changing implications for regional trade, investment and infrastructure development.
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China’s ‘One Belt One Road’ Strategy
One road, one belt, and a lot of geopolitics
As part of July’s monthly member briefing, AmCham Shanghai members were treated to a speech on China’s One Belt One Road (OBOR) strategy by Mary Boyd of the Economist Intelligence Unit. Although Xi Jinping’s expansive plan for OBOR has yet to be clarified, it has become a popular topic among China-analysts. Boyd shared her insights on the geopolitical construct of OBOR, the infrastructures that are already in place, and how this ambition fits into the “new normal.”
Introduced in 2013, One Belt One Road is the combination of two of Xi Jinping’s “Go Out” strategies. Xi’s vision for the project is to build transportation infrastructure to promote economic engagement and investment. The New Silk Road Economic Belt (pictured below in red) will run westward from China, crossing central Asia and eventually reaching Western Europe. The second is the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road (in blue), which will loop south from China connecting Southeast Asia, South Asia and Africa before arriving in Europe.
The construction of OBOR comes with sensitivities as some construction will take place in areas where China has active geopolitical tensions. At the forefront is China’s overlapping maritime claims with several countries in the South China Sea, while to the West China must deal with regional rival India. Indian Prime Minister Modi has economic initiatives of his own and recently proposed a potential counter proposal to OBOR, the so-called Project Mausam, to reclaim some of India’s dominance on the trade routes in the Indian Ocean.
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China Voice: The "Belt and Road" initiative brings new opportunities
As China strives to achieve more regional cooperation, its "Belt and Road" initiative will not only drive domestic development but will also influence its foreign policy. The Silk Road Economic Belt is slated to be established along the ancient Silk Road trade route -- which stretched northwest from China's coastal area through Central Asia, the Middle East and on to Europe -- while the maritime Silk Road will run through the country's southern part to Southeast Asia.
Under the initiative, more highways, railways and air routes will be established, and Chinese regions will further integrate resources, policies and markets to connect with the outside world. The Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road were put forward by Chinese President Xi Jinping during his overseas visits in 2013. In November, Xi announced that China will push forward with the initiative and strengthen cooperation with those countries involved.
When visiting Mongolia in August, he said that China invited its neighbors to get on board and ride China's development. As China promotes the Belt and Road initiative abroad, it is also driving change back home. In an economic work conference held in December 2014, it was listed as one of the priority tasks for 2015. And in recent days, the initiative has been lauded by people's congress sessions across the country. A total of 20 provincial regions have made their development blueprints based on the belt and road initiative. Observers believe that the initiative can further integrate China, allowing more parts of the country to enjoy the benefits of its opening-up policy.
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How China successfully redrew the global financial map with AIIB
'One Belt, One Road' is a development strategy launched by after Xi called for a revival of the 2,000-year-old land-based Silk Road and a maritime silk route.
The New Silk Road economic belt will link China with Europe through central and western Asia, and the 21st-century maritime Silk Road, will build roads, railways, ports and airports across Central and South Asia to link China with Southeast Asian countries, Africa and Europe.
The potential for the AIIB to further the “One Belt, One Road” plan persuaded top Chinese leaders to back a 2013 proposal for the bank’s creation that was submitted by former vice-premier Zeng Peiyan, who heads the think tank, the China Centre for International Economic Exchanges (CCIEE), sources said.
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What is the “One Belt, One Road” Initiative?
The “One Belt, One Road” initiative is an economic policy introduced by Chinese President Xi Jin Ping in 2013. The plan focuses on encouraging integration and networking between locations along the Silk Road Economic Belt (SREB) and the Maritime Silk Road (MSR). (On the map below, the SREB is traced with a solid black line while the MSR is depicted with a dotted line.) The program is an effort to forge connectivity throughout Europe and Asia in order to increase diplomatic cooperation, establish open trade zones and facilities, and promote use of the RMB. If successful, the ambitious “One Belt, One Road” plan will serve to strengthen China’s relationships with its neighbors as well as provide an outlet for the country’s production capabilities. China estimates that the program will reach approximately 4.4 billion people in over 65 countries.
However, the “One Belt, One Road” initiative does not come without challenges. First, China faces the problems that are associated with infrastructural gaps in Asia. China has invested hugely in solving these issues, but if these projects fail the country could face serious debt from its efforts. Additional relevant obstacles are the conflicts that would arise given unexpected environmental or human rights violations, which are highly possible given the magnitude of the project and the range of countries that the “One Belt, One Road” initiative intends to reach. Finally, critics of the plan argue that China’s economic goals overlap with a desire to exercise political influence on countries involved, and this international skepticism may hamper the success of the “One Belt, One Road” initiative.
Regardless, China is committed to the “One Belt, One Road” initiative and motivated to complete the plan. Since its inception, the plan has already spurred productive change. China is headed toward more sustainable and regionally balanced economic growth, which should be viewed as a great opportunity for foreign companies considering entering the China market.
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“One Belt and One Road”, Far-reaching Initiative
On Sept. 7th 2013, during his state visit to Kazakhstan, Mr. Xi Jinping, President of the People’s Republic of China, proposed in his speech at Nazarbayev University that China and the Central Asian countries build an “economic belt along the Silk Road,” a trans-Eurasian project spanning from the Pacific Ocean to the Baltic Sea. On Oct. 3rd 2013, Xi Jinping proposed a new maritime silk road in his speech at the Indonesia Parliament during his state visit to Indonesia. President Xi Jinping’s proposal of “One Belt and One Road” is the most significant and far-reaching initiative that China has ever put forward. It has aroused a great interest in the international press. To understand this initiative, we need to take a closer look at the world, China and this initiative itself.
The “One Belt and One Road” initiative concerns 65 countries and 4.4 billion people. This is China’s most important and strategic initiative. It has been well thought through by taking account of world’s need, the reality in Asia, and China’s own situation. In regards to the world’s need, we may consider the global landscape and find three significant features:
The first feature is that the Middle East and North Africa have become the epicenter of turbulence, regional war, conflict and hatred. The Arab Spring of 2010 triggered a major political earthquake in this region. A number of strong men fell down. The Syrian War has lasted for more than three years, with 200,000 dead and millions homeless. This war is still going on. The war between ISIS and anti-ISIS alliances is raging. Some parts of Libya have become the stronghold of ISIS in North Africa. We can’t foresee the end of turbulence in this region, in spite of tireless efforts from the international community to quell the violence.
The second feature is that Europe finds itself in the epicenter of financial crisis. This crisis broke out first in the United States in 2008. A worsening sovereign debt crisis in Portugal, Spain, Italy, and Greece shifted the epicenter of the financial crisis to to Europe. The European Union is still struggling to overcome the consequences of this crisis.
The third feature is that East Asia has become the global growth center. The last three decades witnessed steady and robust growth causing East Asia to become the most dynamic and fastest growing region in the world. Its steady growth is not only important for the whole Asia but also very much needed by the rest of the world.
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Why China is so keen on pushing ‘One Belt, One Road’
China aims to enhance its economic and geopolitical interests through the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road initiatives. Credit: Schillerinstitute.org
After announcing the “Silk Road Economic Belt” and “21st Century Maritime Silk Road” in September and October 2013 respectively, Chinese leader Xi Jinping began promoting the concepts actively last year. The Silk Road Economic Belt starts from Xian, passing through major cities like Almaty, Samarkand, Tehran and Moscow, before ending at Venice.
The 21st Century Maritime Silk Road begins in Fuzhou, linking numerous coastal cities in the world including Hanoi, Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur, Calcutta and Nairobi before joining the “Silk Road Economic Belt at Venice. This road map indicates a shift in the economic emphasis to Western China from the eastern parts of the country. Last year, Xi announced the US$40 billion Silk Road Foundation in order to expand offshore investment, involving initiatives such as construction of facilities, exploitation of resources and the cooperation in the industrial and financial arena.
In addition, local governments also released their plans of local Silk Road Foundation. For example, Fuzhou, the origin of the ancient maritime silk road, is working with the Fujian branch of the China Development Bank and China-Africa Development Fund. Meanwhile, Guangdong is looking to cooperate with Pan Pearl River Delta and the ASEAN for the establishment of a similar foundation. As a result, “One Belt, One Road” has become a popular subject among local enterprises.
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So what is China’s ‘One Belt One Road’ thing, anyway?
This CCTV News map shows the Silk Road Economic Belt over land and the Maritime Silk Road enhancing connections between China, South Asia, Africa and Europe
The term “One Belt One Road” has invaded reports on China trade over the past few weeks, with Beijing officials rarely missing a chance to extol the virtues of the regional initiative that brings together the Silk Road Economic Belt and Maritime Silk Road developments aimed at linking China with Europe and Africa, and the countries in between.
It is not a new strategy, however, and since it was first proposed almost two years ago, up to 60 countries have become involved in the giant initiative. Adding to the recent headlines was the establishment of the China-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) whose mission includes backing the One Belt One Road development plans. Chinese President Xi Jinping has been promoting the trade connections lately while cheerleading the AIIB, which established its founding members in late March.
So what is this One Belt One Road? In short, China is looking for new ways to sustain its growth that slid to 7.4 percent last year and is expected to grow by 7 percent in 2015. While higher than most economies, it is a sharp drop from the double-digit growth China enjoyed during the last decade.
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A brilliant plan One Belt, One Road
In just 30 years, China has developed from a poor inward-looking agricultural country to a global manufacturing powerhouse. Its model of investing and producing at home and exporting to developed markets has elevated it to the world’s second-largest economy after the USA. Now faced with a slowing economy at home, China’s leadership is looking for new channels to sustain its appetite for growth at a time when developing neighbours are experiencing rapidly rising demand.
A new economic paradigm emerges - At the heart of One Belt, One Road lies the creation of an economic land belt that includes countries on the original Silk Road through Central Asia, West Asia, the Middle East and Europe, as well as a maritime road that links China’s port facilities with the African coast, pushing up through the Suez Canal into the Mediterranean.
The project aims to redirect the country’s domestic overcapacity and capital for regional infrastructure development to improve trade and relations with Asean, Central Asian and European countries.
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Prospects and challenges on China’s ‘one belt, one road’: a risk assessment report
In this report, The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) unpacks China’s “one belt, one road” plan and explores the risks that will face companies seeking opportunities in the OBOR territories. It has been indicated that up to 60 countries may be included in OBOR with stops across three different continents. In addition to political objectives, OBOR brings a strategic focus which encourages Chinese firms to go abroad in search of new markets or investment opportunities.
Led from the highest levels of the government the OBOR push is backed by substantial financial firepower, with the government has launching a US$50bn Silk Road Fund that will directly support the OBOR mission. While the strategy promises opportunities for domestic companies, the route is unlikely to be an even one. The proposed countries range from Singapore to Syria. The companies involved could be heading into territories that may be strategically important for China’s foreign relations, but challenging to navigate.
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One belt, one road
"One belt, one road" is a development strategy started by the Chinese government in 2013.