A New Multilateralism? A Case Study of the Belt and Road Initiative

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 384-413
Author(s):  
Jingyuan Zhou
Keyword(s):  
International Trade ◽  
Dispute Settlement ◽  
Infrastructure Development ◽  
Belt And Road Initiative ◽  
Dispute Settlement Mechanism ◽  
Belt And Road ◽  
Rule Setting ◽  
Rule Making ◽  
The Belt And Road ◽  
International Rule

Abstract The first five years (the first stage) of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) have drawn international attention and provoked scepticism and debate. This article explores questions about the nature of the BRI and its impact on multilateralism, which is increasingly fragile and under attack. After summarizing past practices employed in BRI investments, it analyses the characteristics of the BRI and assesses the results and implications. This article studies in depth one of the two primary BRI economic activities—special economic zones. The article introduces and compares the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank and Chinese domestic banks in their respective financing practices and compares state-owned enterprises and privately owned enterprises in BRI practices. The article observes three characteristics from past BRI practices and analyzes their respective implications on the transformation of international trade governance. The first characteristic is the unconventional ‘infrastructure development first, institution next’ approach. The second is the plurilateral- and multilateral-focused method in international rule-setting processes. The third characteristic is innovation in the dispute settlement mechanism. Through a cautious examination, the article argues that experiences gained from BRI inform China’s international rule-making efforts and further its domestic trade liberalization reform agenda, which will likely contribute to the convergence of rule-making in international trade.

scholarly journals International Cooperation for the Belt and Road Initiative: Key Issues and Future Prospects

2020 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 76-95
Author(s):  
Liao Li
Keyword(s):  
International Cooperation ◽  
Global Economy ◽  
Dispute Settlement ◽  
Human Life ◽  
Implementation Process ◽  
Belt And Road Initiative ◽  
Dispute Settlement Mechanism ◽  
Belt And Road ◽  
Asean Countries ◽  
The Belt And Road

AbstractInternational Cooperation for the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is of great significance to China and the other BRI countries. By the end of January 2020, China has signed 200 cooperation documents with 138 countries and 30 international organizations to build the “Belt and Road”. The BRI faces challenges from some Western and ASEAN countries, differences among the Belt and Road Countries, and also global emergency issues. In addition to grave threats to human life, the COVID-19 coronavirus carries serious risks for the global economy. In the implementation process of the BRI, it will inevitably encounter various trade and investment frictions, and it needs a long-term dispute settlement mechanism. In the post-epidemic era, we need to construct top-level design, accelerate further trade cooperation, promote China-ASEAN cooperation, strengthen China-African Cooperation, and jointly fight against the epidemic.

scholarly journals Estimating China’s Trade with Its Partner Countries within the Belt and Road Initiative Using Neural Network Analysis

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (5) ◽  
pp. 1449 ◽  
Author(s):  
Koffi Dumor ◽  
Li Yao
Keyword(s):  
Neural Network ◽  
Neural Networks ◽  
International Trade ◽  
Network Analysis ◽  
Gravity Model ◽  
Accurate Estimation ◽  
Belt And Road Initiative ◽  
Neural Network Analysis ◽  
Belt And Road ◽  
The Belt And Road

The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) under the auspices of the Chinese government was created as a regional integration and development model between China and her trade partners. Arguments have been raised as to whether this initiative will be beneficial to participating countries in the long run. We set to examine how to estimate this trade initiative by comparing the relative estimation powers of the traditional gravity model with the neural network analysis using detailed bilateral trade exports data from 1990 to 2017. The results show that neural networks are better than the gravity model approach in learning and clarifying international trade estimation. The neural networks with fixed country effects showed a more accurate estimation compared to a baseline model with country-year fixed effects, as in the OLS estimator and Poisson pseudo-maximum likelihood. On the other hand, the analysis indicated that more than 50% of the 6 participating East African countries in the BRI were able to attain their predicted targets. Kenya achieved an 80% (4 of 5) target. Drawing from the lessons of the BRI and the use of neural network model, it will serve as an important reference point by which other international trade interventions could be measured and compared.

scholarly journals Belt and Road Initiative: Five Years on Implementation and Reflection

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 1-10
Author(s):  
Biliang Hu
Keyword(s):  
Infrastructure Development ◽  
Belt And Road Initiative ◽  
Agenda 2030 ◽  
Belt And Road ◽  
World Economic ◽  
Common Interests ◽  
The Common ◽  
Set Up ◽  
The Belt And Road ◽  
World Development

This article summarizes the implementation of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), which was carried out 5 years ago. To date the basic institutional framework has been set up, some key infrastructural projects launched; joint development zones established and supporting systems have been set up to ensure the smooth infrastructure development of BRI. This article also explains the important factors why China proposed and implemented the initiative: accelerating world economic growth particularly for the developing countries, promoting economic globalization, improving global governance, and supporting UN Agenda 2030 for sustainable development. Based on the 5 years’ experience of the Belt and Road implementation, the initiative reflects correctly the mega trend of world development and global cooperation, as well as the common interests of China and other relevant participating countries. A promising future for the initiative is most likely; however, careful feasibility study for investments is required to manage debt risk well for both the investors and the receivers of the investments.

scholarly journals Strategic Responses of Advanced Economies to the Belt and Road Initiative

2018 ◽  
Vol 04 (03) ◽  
pp. 381-399 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jason Young
Keyword(s):  
Developing Economies ◽  
The United States ◽  
Infrastructure Development ◽  
Belt And Road Initiative ◽  
The European Union ◽  
International Affairs ◽  
Political Values ◽  
Advanced Economies ◽  
Belt And Road ◽  
The Belt And Road

Responses to the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) have been mixed. Many commentators have welcomed the opportunity for infrastructure development and projects to build economic, political and social connectivity across the region. Others have been openly critical or slow to formulate a clear position. In general, advanced economies have responded less positively than developing economies. This paper employs a constructivist approach to interpret responses to the BRI in advanced economies through analysis of commentary in the United States, the European Union, Japan, Australia and New Zealand. It identifies a diversity of responses within and among these economies and a strong ideational coherence in the frameworks used to assess the BRI. It is concluded that the reception of Chinese-promoted concepts in international affairs, like the BRI, remains challenging due to the dominance of liberal and realist assessments and the accompanying political values. This suggests a need for greater intellectual engagement and more substantial feedback between China and the advanced economies, so as to open the way for a long overdue regional conversation on how development is conceptualized and co-created in a region with diverse approaches to regional economic policy.

scholarly journals Environmental Impacts of Infrastructure Development under the Belt and Road Initiative

Environments ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 6 (6) ◽  
pp. 72 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hoong Chen Teo ◽  
Alex Mark Lechner ◽  
Grant W. Walton ◽  
Faith Ka Shun Chan ◽  
Ali Cheshmehzangi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Impacts ◽  
Social Economic ◽  
Environmental Issues ◽  
Infrastructure Development ◽  
Belt And Road Initiative ◽  
Political Factors ◽  
Belt And Road ◽  
Interdisciplinary Framework ◽  
Spatiotemporal Scales ◽  
The Belt And Road

China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is the largest infrastructure scheme in our lifetime, bringing unprecedented geopolitical and economic shifts far larger than previous rising powers. Concerns about its environmental impacts are legitimate and threaten to thwart China’s ambitions, especially since there is little precedent for analysing and planning for environmental impacts of massive infrastructure development at the scale of BRI. In this paper, we review infrastructure development under BRI to characterise the nature and types of environmental impacts and demonstrate how social, economic and political factors can shape these impacts. We first address the ambiguity around how BRI is defined. Then we describe our interdisciplinary framework for considering the nature of its environmental impacts, showing how impacts interact and aggregate across multiple spatiotemporal scales creating cumulative impacts. We also propose a typology of BRI infrastructure, and describe how economic and socio-political drivers influence BRI infrastructure and the nature of its environmental impacts. Increasingly, environmental policies associated with BRI are being designed and implemented, although there are concerns about how these will translate effectively into practice. Planning and addressing environmental issues associated with the BRI is immensely complex and multi-scaled. Understanding BRI and its environment impacts is the first step for China and countries along the routes to ensure the assumed positive socio-economic impacts associated with BRI are sustainable.

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