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.

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.

China’s ‘Belt and Road Initiative’: Implication for Land Locked Ethiopia

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 175-193 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mesafint Tarekegn Yalew ◽  
Guo Changgang
Keyword(s):  
Regional Integration ◽  
Addis Ababa ◽  
Geographical Area ◽  
Policy Coordination ◽  
Global Strategy ◽  
Chinese Government ◽  
Infrastructure Development ◽  
Belt And Road Initiative ◽  
Belt And Road ◽  
Trade And Investment

This article analyses the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and its implications for landlocked Ethiopia. Primary and secondary data sources are used to solicit viable information. The BRI is aimed to enhance policy coordination, financial integration, promote trade and investment, cultural exchanges and people-to-people relations across a wide geographical area involving Asia, Europe and Africa. The BRI is the next step in China’s global strategy after the reform and opening-up period, and it is important for job creation, infrastructural development, trade and investment and other related developments for landlocked least developing countries such as Ethiopia. For instance, the construction of the early BRI project of Addis Ababa–Djibouti railway has reduced transport costs and shortened the transport time from 3 days to 10 hours. Besides, the establishment of the East African Free Trade Agreement (FTA) at Djibouti by the Chinese government to facilitate trade in the region. Cumulatively, the BRI contributes to the growth of trade and investment opportunities for landlocked Ethiopia in terms of financing, infrastructure development and regional integration.

scholarly journals A brief analysis of new media pushing "The Belt and Road" Initiative

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kaiqiang Xiao ◽  
Liang Chen
Keyword(s):  
New Media ◽  
High Efficiency ◽  
Silk Road ◽  
Belt And Road Initiative ◽  
Information Communication ◽  
Maritime Silk Road ◽  
Silk Road Economic Belt ◽  
Belt And Road ◽  
The Belt And Road

Abstract: in 2013, President Xi put forward the strategic ideas of "Silk Road Economic Belt" and "21st Century Maritime Silk Road" during his visit to central Asia and South Asia, which gained extensive attention from the international community. To promote the implementation of the "The Belt and Road" initiative, it is necessary to not only build good infrastructure to promote economic and trade exchanges between countries, but also create a good public opinion environment to enhance exchanges and mutual trust between countries. New media, as one of the main channels of information communication in the current era, plays an important role in spreading the culture of "The Belt and Road" initiative and promoting economic cooperation among countries with its characteristics of flexibility, interactivity and high efficiency. Exploring the role of new media in promoting the political, cultural and economic aspects of the "The Belt and Road" initiative will be of great significance to mastering the power of discourse of the Silk Road and strengthening the exchanges and cooperation among countries along the route.

scholarly journals Logistics Challenges Along the New Silk Roads

2021 ◽  
pp. 295-307
Author(s):  
Hans-Dietrich Haasis ◽  
Jianhui Du ◽  
Xuejun Sun
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Differences ◽  
Freight Transport ◽  
Silk Road ◽  
Belt And Road Initiative ◽  
Maritime Silk Road ◽  
Silk Road Economic Belt ◽  
Belt And Road ◽  
Communication And Coordination ◽  
The Belt And Road ◽  
The Silk Road

AbstractIn 2013, Chinese President Xi Jinping advised to establish the “Silk Road Economic Belt” and the “21st Century Maritime Silk Road,” also referred as the Belt and Road Initiative or the New Silk Roads Policy. The intention is to promote international and regional trade as well as cooperation in and between Asia and Europe. Consequently, international maritime and terrestrial freight transport corridors are either established or strengthened and operated. The purpose of this paper is to reflect the Belt and Road Initiative from the perspective of logistics. The aim is to identify and formulate circumstances, expectations, opportunities, and peculiarities of logistics along the New Silk Roads. For this purpose, four corresponding challenges will be considered and outlined after an introduction to the Belt and Road Initiative. The four logistics challenges concern the awareness of new freight transport corridors and the assessment of possibilities for opening new transport relations and new markets, the implementation of new and the adaptation of existing supply chains to increase strategic logistics flexibility, the availability and use of digital infrastructure and connectivity for improved communication and coordination of logistical processes, and the willingness to consider regional and cultural differences in the preparation and realization of supply chain decisions.

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