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China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) has been dubbed the ‘New Silk Road.’ The Silk Road was a vast 4000-mile network of trade routes that spanned much of Eurasia. These ancient routes were used for centuries, created by the Han Dynasty of China in 130 BCE, and used until the Ottoman Empire cut trading relations with the West in 1453 C.E. The Silk Road is regarded as one of the earliest examples of globalization in action. It created a multi-national trade network that connected economies all throughout Asia and Europe. Almost 2000 years later, China is attempting a ‘New Silk Road’, namely, the Belt and Road Initiative, a forceful wave of modern globalization and a demonstration of China’s rise as a global power.
The Belt and Road Initiative is a huge Chinese-led infrastructure project that aims to stretch around the globe, and is widely considered the most ambitious infrastructure project ever conceived. Masterminded by President Xi Jinping, the 2013 launch of BRI took the form of a vast collection of investment and development initiatives designed to link East Asia and Europe through physical infrastructure. A decade on, and this project has extended to Africa, Oceania, and Latin America. Eyebrows have been raised over the notion that many less developed nations will be becoming increasingly reliant on what China has to offer, a concern shared by a competing USA, who, as of yet, is unable to offer a similar vision.
The plan was at first, two progued, with the Belt element being a plan to revitalize a number of ancient overland trade routes connecting Europe and Asia and the Road being a new sea trade network. Over time the two merged to become the Belt and Road Initiative. But let’s now dive into the details.
As of August 2023, 155 countries were listed as having signed up to BRI, meaning it would cover around 75% of the world’s population and 50% of the planet’s GDP – a bold indicator as to how far China has progressed in its goal of global superiority. This is further demonstrated through the BRI’s African connections, with 52 African countries and the African Union Commission having signed cooperation agreements with China. Many projects are underway or have been completed with the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in particular benefitting from this cooperation, with one example being the infrastructure agreement with Sicomines that gave Chinese partners mining rights to cobalt and copper in the DRC. Thus far, Sicomines has invested $1 billion into the DRC, which has dramatically increased the standards of living for many Congolese people.
So how has the BRI phenomenon been received over the Pacific?
There is no doubt that there has been a recalibration in US policy towards China following BRI. The US now more than ever is viewing China as its largest international competitor as evidenced by the trade war that sparked as a result of tariffs and trade barriers set on China by former President Donald Trump. The subsequent Biden Administration has continued to view relations with China within the framework of great power competition. The notion of the ‘China threat’ through US eyes does without a doubt extend much further than just economic competition, covering also security, technology, ideology, and diplomacy. Taiwan, being an ever-contested topic, was not helped by Nancy Pelosi’s reckless trip to the island that further ruptured relations with the Asian superpower. The US, having not strongly responded to the unveiling of BRI in 2013, now find themselves attempting to counter an initiative that runs deep within the earth’s economic system and is controlled by their number one competitor, putting them in a very difficult position.
Covid-19 and the financial implications of the Russian-Ukrainian War certainly slowed BRI development. Tough economic conditions meant that in 2022, 60% of China’s overseas lending went to borrowers in financial distress, compared to only 5% in 2010. Nonetheless, the deepness with which BRI now runs through the earth has made its sudden collapse virtually impossible. The idea that “no one really knows for sure what Beijing is trying to get out of it” (Michael Kugerman), is common amongst those wary of China’s rise and is maybe a reason it has progressed so much.
Ultimately, China is out in front in this global race and many countries are being pulled closer and closer to this economic powerhouse. How successful BRI will be in the long term is anyone’s guess, but BRI has and continues to excel China out in front, while many nations have not yet left the start line.
Image: Man standing on path with flags of USA, European Union and China by Marco Verch // CC BY 2.0
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