China's Belt and Road Initiative Archive

Editor’s note: This article is part of an ongoing series about China’s One Belt, One Road infrastructure initiative, also known as the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road. Earlier this month, China hosted more than 100 leaders and diplomats for a summit devoted to its ambitious One Belt, One Road initiative (OBOR), which President Xi Jinping described as the “project of the century.” The summit was an opportunity to assess whether OBOR, which was formally announced in 2013, is living up to Xi’s rhetoric. In an email interview, Salvatore Babones, associate professor at the University […]

Editor’s note: This article is part of an ongoing WPR series about China’s One Belt, One Road infrastructure initiative, also known as the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road. Three years after the coup that brought the junta led by Gen. Prayuth Chan-och to power in Thailand, China remains a staunch ally, declining to weigh in on Thailand’s domestic affairs. In an email interview, Pavin Chachavalpongpun, associate professor of political science at Kyoto University’s Center for Southeast Asian Studies, describes the bilateral relationship as well as the role Thailand might play in China’s One Belt, […]

Editor’s note: This article is part of an ongoing WPR series about China’s One Belt, One Road infrastructure initiative, also known as the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road. For more than two decades, Malaysia’s political leaders have viewed China as an essential engine of economic growth. Close cooperation under current Prime Minister Najib Razak has included a number of projects falling under the One Belt, One Road initiative. In an email interview, David Han, research analyst with the Malaysia Program at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore, […]

Editor’s note: This article is part of an ongoing WPR series about China’s One Belt, One Road infrastructure initiative, also known as the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road. Last month, the U.K. inaugurated the first freight train service to China—a 17-day, 7,500-mile journey from Essex to Zhejiang province. A cargo route was earlier established linking China and Spain. The milestones are reminders of Chinese ambitions for European involvement in its One Belt, One Road initiative. In an email interview, Andrew Small, senior trans-Atlantic fellow with the Asia Program of the German Marshall Fund of […]

Editor’s note: This article is part of an ongoing WPR series about China’s One Belt, One Road infrastructure initiative, also known as the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road. In January, Chinese Foreign Minster Wang Yi started his annual Africa tour with a stop in Madagascar’s capital, Antananarivo—a sign of the importance Beijing places on Madagascar’s role in the One Belt, One Road initiative. Last month, during Malagasy President Hery Rajaonarimampianina’s state visit to Beijing, the two countries signed several agreements to accelerate Chinese investment in energy, aviation, transportation, ports and airport construction. In an […]