Xi Jinping’s ‘One Belt, One Road’ strategy is showing the way to a new world order

Lan Shen says the nearly 60-nation initiative is already reaping benefits, which will multiply if the risks can be better addressed, and participating countries made more aware of the pluses

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A photo-op for Chinese travellers at the Khunjerab Pass on the border with Pakistan, 4,600m above sea level, on September 29, 2015. Pakistan has received US$46 billion for the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, which will link to the Pakistani ports of Gwadar and Karachi, giving Chinese exports access to the Arabian Sea. Photo: AFP

Published: 11:41am, 13 Dec 2016Updated: 8:21pm, 13 Dec 2016

While still a confusing concept to some in the West, China’s “One Belt, One Road” initiative – launched three years ago – is now gaining significant traction. The ambitious project – effectively linking trade in some 60 Asian and European countries along a new Silk Road – is China’s most important strategic initiative, and a crucial component of President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) foreign policy.

China has signed project contracts worth US$926 billion along the belt and road. A series of cross-border infrastructure projects are under way – such as a new China-Laos railway, a highway in Pakistan and a port in Vietnam – and are expected to expand quickly.

The initiative has already hugely boosted trade and investment. Trade between China and countries along the land and sea-based routes exceeded US$1 trillion in 2015, a quarter of China’s total trade value. Chinese exports to belt and road countries now exceed those to the US and the European Union – China’s top two export destinations – and the gap is widening.

Delegates from China and Nepal sign a memorandum of understanding at the “One Belt, One Road Initiative International Trade Platform” in Kathmandu on November 19. Photo: Xinhua

Belt and Road points the way to a 21st-century Renaissance, if China stays true to its vision

China has developed over 50 overseas economic and trade cooperation zones along the belt and road, and expanded its free trade zones trial from four to seven provinces, including inland regions, which will help push investment projects, simplify cross-border transactions and improve trade liberalisation.