With a road and rail network (in parts) connecting 65 countries (at last count) including China-across Asia, the Middle East, Europe, and Africa-the Belt and Road Initiative, when completed...Image by Shamil Zhumatov/ Reuters
With the project estimated to be a $5-trillion investment, the Belt and Silk Road could be deemed as the most ambitious infrastructural development plan in history. The Chinese recently si...Image by Lintao Zhang/ Pool / Reuters
Across the continental landmass, from Russian Siberia to India and from Mongolia to Mesopotamia and the Balkans, the term &ldquoSilk Road&rdquo evokes dreamy visions of mythical lands and b...Image by Vladimir Pirogov/ Reuters
China is under pressure to transform from low-end to high-end commodity, capital and technology exports an answer to deal with the problem of massive overcapacity in its industries. In 2015...Image by Pichi Chuang/ Reuters
As the growth in China slows to a two-decade low, infrastructure development providers like cement and steel companies find the need to look beyond the borders of the country to Central Asi...Image by Per-Anders Pettersson/ Getty Images
China&rsquos most prolific research areas are engineering followed by materials science and medicine. With a multi-discipline approach that includes engineering, design, and applied science...Image by Aly Song/ Reuters
Another important motivation behind the Belt and Road Initiative is to encourage economic development in China&rsquos Xinjiang autonomous region, thus tackling the major problems of its Wes...Image by Thomas Peter/ Reuters
But President Xi&rsquos vision isn't only about putting a physical infrastructure in place. Beneath the blueprint to create a contiguous land and maritime zone is China&rsquos response to t...Image by WU HONG/ Reuters
It will be an economic game-changer for Bangladesh when completed. China Railway Construction Corporation is building a 215 km Padma rail link project from Dhaka to Jessore, including the 6...Image by Padma Road Rail Bridge
For many Kenyans seen at this newly-constructed Nairobi terminal, it is a historic moment. The just-inaugurated Standard Gauge Railway from the port city of Mombasa to capital Nairobi is it...Image by Thomas Mukoya/ Reuters
China is calling its military base in Djibouti an overseas logistics base. The location is a very strategic one: Djibouti, on the coast of Africa, at the mouth of the Red Sea, looking acros...Image by VCG/ VCG via Getty Images
Hambantota Port: The latest news is that Sri Lanka wants to reduce China&rsquos stake in the Hambantota port deal. The debt-laden but strategically located port was built at an estimated co...Image by Dinuka Liyanawatte/ Reuters
For the last several years, Kathmandu has faced up to 16 hours of power outage every day. Nepal has immense water resources but had lacked the know-how of harnessing hydropower. But the maj...Image by Kuni Takahashi/ Getty Images
Villagers in northern Laos recall the arrival of Chinese investors a few years ago. The investors offered them good money to rent their untilled land and wanted to grow bananas on it. In im...Image by Jorge Silva/ Reuters
The Khorgos gateway is the pivot to breaking the Asian connectivity bottleneck in the global trade between East and West. This interconnection hub, located on the China-Kazakhstan border, i...Image by Sue-Lin Wong/ Reuters
The first China-to-Britain freight train arrived in London on 18 January 2017 after a 18-day, 7,500-mile journey, making it the longest railway freight route in the world. Marking a milesto...Image by Stefan Wermuth/ Reuters
The other major railway route is the China to Iran line. Branching off from the London line after Khorgos, the railway line traverses Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan passing through a number of...Image by Thomas Koch/ Shutterstock
Turkmenistan has been a major beneficiary of the Belt and Road Initiative, bringing its vast natural resources to market via the Central Asia-China Gas Pipeline, like the one pictured above...Image by Shamil Zhumatov/ Reuters
Russia has joined hands with China for the Belt and Road Initiative. Russia&rsquos geopolitical aims include containing the influence of the US and its allies in the region and maintaining ...Image by Wang Zhao/ Reuters
China has acquired stakes in key Russian industry projects like the construction of an LNG plant at Sabetta on the Yamal Peninsula in the north. The aim is to expand into the country's oil ...Image by Courtesy Novatek
The newly built Gwadar port is the crux of China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), the BRI&rsquos flagship project for convenient access to the Arabian Sea and the Indian Ocean. The first ...Image by Stringer/ Reuters
India has refused to join the Belt and Road Initiative so far, citing concerns about sovereignty and territorial integrity, and objecting to the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) pass...Image by Thomas Peter/ Reuters
