South Asia and the Belt and Road Initiative: Opportunities, Challenges, and Prospect

2016 ◽  
pp. 177-202 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhaoli Wu
Keyword(s):  
South Asia ◽  
Belt And Road Initiative ◽  
Belt And Road ◽  
The Belt And Road

scholarly journals Understanding the Belt and Road Initiative

2019 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 103-117
Author(s):  
Dinesh Bhattarai
Keyword(s):  
South Asia ◽  
International Standards ◽  
Infrastructure Development ◽  
Belt And Road Initiative ◽  
Framework Agreement ◽  
Maritime Silk Road ◽  
Belt And Road ◽  
Work Done ◽  
Trade And Investment ◽  
The Belt And Road

China’s project of the century- Belt and Road Initiative - is a signature foreign policy project of President Xi Jinping. Launched in 2013, BRI contains two components- overland belt connecting China with Central Asia, Russia, South Asia and Europe, and Maritime Silk Road for enhancing connectivity, and maritime cooperation linking Chinese ports with Southeast Asia, South Asia, Africa, the Middle East and Europe. BRI wraps up these two initiatives in it and intends to cover the number of countries along the route that happens to be the biggest market in the world with enormous potentials for trade and investment cooperation. BRI has both economic and strategic messages behind a massive infrastructure plan covering a vast network of connectivity linking 60 countries. BRI has sparked a variety of responses, some welcoming and supporting it, some expressing reservations, some willing to participate “for shaping the outcome from within”, and some wanting it to firmly match the international standards of transparency, openness, and the fiscal soundness of the country. Nepal formally became a part of BRI by signing a Memorandum of Understanding on Framework Agreement in May 2017 for enhancing more connectivity and integration, though Nepal is not included in any of the six economic corridors unveiled by China. China recently suggesting Nepal to trim projects from 35 to 9 reflects the standard of the work done by the Nepali government and its lack of preparedness and seriousness. Infrastructure development is key to progress and prosperity. As China remains engaged in improving connectivity in the neighborhood, there is a great optimism about BRI in Nepal. Against this background, this article looks at the significance of BRI, examines past attempts made at connectivity, responses to BRI and Nepal's participation in it.

China’s Approach to South Asia

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (04) ◽  
pp. 46-59
Author(s):  
Antara Ghosal SINGH
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Policy ◽  
South Asia ◽  
Chinese Language ◽  
Chinese Foreign Policy ◽  
Belt And Road Initiative ◽  
Basic Framework ◽  
Belt And Road ◽  
The Belt And Road ◽  
Early Harvest ◽  
Language Literature

South Asia has emerged as a “priority zone” for Chinese foreign policy with the highest density of early harvest projects under the Belt and Road Initiative and deepening Chinese engagements in realms beyond economics. Despite China’s growing presence in the region, there are few studies that track China’s internal discourse on the region, going beyond its targeted propaganda. Based on study of Chinese-language literature, this article aims to fill the knowledge gap in this domain and develop a basic framework depicting how China operates in South Asia as well as its mission and vision for the region.

scholarly journals Assessment and influencing factors analysis of economic system vulnerability of the Belt and Road Initiative countries

PLoS ONE ◽  
2022 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. e0262611
Author(s):  
Zhihui Li ◽  
Jia Wu ◽  
Xiaolin Cui ◽  
Zhaojuan Mi ◽  
Lu Peng
Keyword(s):  
Spatial Distribution ◽  
East Asia ◽  
South Asia ◽  
Economic System ◽  
Central Asia ◽  
Financial System ◽  
Belt And Road Initiative ◽  
System Vulnerability ◽  
Belt And Road ◽  
The Belt And Road

Economic vulnerability is an important indicator to measure regional coordination, health and stability. Despite the importance of vulnerabilities, this is the first study that presents 26 indicators selected from the dimensions of the domestic economic system, external economic system and financial system in the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) countries. A quantitative analysis is conducted to analyze the characteristics of spatial heterogeneity of vulnerability of the economic subsystems and the comprehensive economic system of the BRI countries and the main influencing factors of the comprehensive economic system vulnerability (CESV) are identified based on obstacle degree model. The results show that the CESV of the East Asia, South Asia and ASEAN countries are lower than that of the Middle Eastern Europe, Central Asia and West Asia countries. The CESV of the BRI countries are generally in the middle level and the average vulnerability index of highly vulnerable countries is twice as much as that of lowly vulnerable countries. In addition, in terms of the vulnerability of the three subsystems, the spatial distribution of vulnerability of the domestic economic system (DESV) and financial system (FSV) is basically consistent with the spatial distribution pattern of CESV, both of which are low in East Asia and South Asia and high in West Asia and Central Asia. While, the vulnerability of external economic system (EESV) shows a different spatial pattern, with vulnerability of West Asia, Central Asia and ASEAN higher than that of East Asia and South Asia. The main obstacle factors influencing the CESV of BRI countries include GDP growth rate, saving ratio, ratio of bank capital to assets, service industry level, industrialization level and loan rate. Therefore, the key way to maintain the stability and mitigate the vulnerability of the economic system of BRI countries is to focus on the macroeconomic development and operation, stimulate the economy and market vitality, promote the development of industries, especially the service and secondary industries, and optimize the economic structure, banking system and financial system.

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