In recent years, China has been seeking to deepen its global centrality by connecting to Asia, Europe, and Africa through investments in physical infrastructure, that is, ports and pipelines, high-speed rail, and other utilities, with associated bilateral trade and investments in critical states along the land- and sea-based Silk Road. Oman is positioned to play a critical role in China’s expanding footprint in the Middle East. Its advantageous maritime location, influence in energy markets, and independent foreign policy make Oman an attractive partner for China and of vital strategic significance in the construction and realization of the twenty-first-century Maritime Silk Road Initiative (MSRI). Oman has enthusiastically embraced China’s MSRI and expressed an eagerness to leverage China’s growing influence in the Middle East to transform itself into a center of global trade and manufacturing.
From hierarchy to networking: the evolution of the “twenty-first-century Maritime Silk Road” container shipping system
