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belt and road

Belt and Road at five years

World economy 15th November 2022

Will the Belt and Road Initiative be another casualty of the pandemic?

Alicia García Herrero (Natixis) *| China’s grand infrastructure development strategy, the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), has suffered as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, at least when measured by the amount of funds lent or invested by China in BRI projects. This decrease in funding is one of the most visible signs of China’s increasing isolationism and worsening global image. President Xi announced China’s most important soft-power strategy on…

Ursula von der Leyen 768x432 1

World economy 16th October 2021

With Its “Global Gateway”, The EU Is Upping The Pressure On China’s BRI

European Views | A foreign policy instrument explicitly designed to counter the BRI, the GG diametrically opposed to China’s investment approach by seeking to “create links and not dependencies”, in the words of European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen. The GG’s launch comes at a time when the EU is feeling the adverse effects of BRI-induced encroachment within its own borders and wider neighbourhood. Several EU countries, such as Italy, Greece and Bulgaria, have controversially signed up to the project.

BANK OF CHINA

World economy 12th September 2020

The Unintended Economic Impacts Of China’s Belt And Road Initiative

Daniel Wagner | China’s footprint in global foreign direct investment has increased notably since the launch of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) in 2013. That served to bring Chinese overseas FDI closer to a level that one would expect, based on the country’s weight in the global economy. However, China actually invested more in countries outside the BRI during the period, given that Chinese investment in developed countries tends to have larger market values, particularly for mergers and acquisitions.

Belt and Road at five years

World economy 19th January 2019

China’s Belt And Road At Five Years

China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) marked its fifth birthday in September 2018, though there was probably less to celebrate than the Chinese authorities might have wished. Five years after President Xi presented the initiative to the world in a speech in Kazakhstan, the BRI is facing pressures on three fronts.

The bridge to connect Asia: the Wakhan corridor

World economy 30th November 2017

The Bridge To Connect Asia: The Wakhan Corridor

Mirwais Parsa | China, an economic giant, has started the move to revitalize the ancient Silk Road. Its ambitious Belt and Road (B&R) initiative includes a major investment in South Asia: the $46-billion Wakhan corridor, which would connect if built, China, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Tajikistan, bringing stability to the region.

Balkan silk road

In Europe 11th October 2017

China’s Footprint In Southeast Europe: Constructing The “Balkan Silk Road”

Jens Bastian via Macropolis | The “Balkan Silk Road” is the name given to the transport route and logistics corridor China has begun to establish in the Balkan region even before the official launch of the BRI two years ago. The Balkans, and by extension Southeast Europe, is a region where China can empirically test various elements of the BRI. The “gate towards Europe”, as the Chinese Prime Minister Li Keqiang termed Greece during a visit in 2014, initiates the Southeast European corridor of the Silk Road.