China's 'Belt & Road' Initiative: 23 Things You Want To Know

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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, would connect 63 percent of the world's population.

President Xi envisions the new project to be the modern equivalent of the ancient Silk Road-the land and ocean routes for silk trade-in a bid to look global for trade as China's growth slows.

Sources for content: PRC Govt, Oborwatch, BBC, China Daily, The Diplomat, Intl Railway Journal, South China Morning Post, Kaneshko Sangar, Kathmandu Post, The Times of India, The Wire, Cambridge Journal of Eurasian Studies, Wikipedia.

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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 signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on the Belt and Road cooperation with a slew of participating governments. However, so far, it hasn’t put out a comprehensive list of all BRI-related projects or deals in the public forum.

In a keynote address at the opening ceremony of the Belt and Road Forum (BRF) on May 14, 2017, President Xi said, 'We will provide emergency food aid worth RMB 2 billion to developing countries along the Belt and Road and make an additional contribution of $1 billion to the Assistance Fund for South-South Cooperation. China will launch 100 "happy home" projects, 100 poverty alleviation projects and 100 health care and rehabilitation projects in countries along the Belt and Road. China will provide relevant international organisations with $1 billion to implement cooperation projects that will benefit the countries along the Belt and Road.'

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Across the continental landmass, from Russian Siberia to India and from Mongolia to Mesopotamia and the Balkans, the term “Silk Road” evokes dreamy visions of mythical lands and bygone traditions.

According to a recent report by PricewaterhouseCoopers, "The official information currently available, mostly provided by China’s state news agency ‘Xinhua’, suggests that B&R comprises two physical routes, with numerous side-branches along the way. These two different routes ultimately connect China with Europe, Africa and Southeast Asia."

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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, China accounted for over 50% of global overcapacity in steel. The end of the infrastructure boom within the country has led to an idle labour force specialised in the building and completion of of large-scale projects.

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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 Asia, Africa, and Russia. According to an article titled-'Russia and China in the age of grand Eurasian projects'-published on the Cambridge Journal of Eurasian Studies, 'The Belt and Road initiative makes this possible, since most projects associated with the initiative will be completed with China’s own contractors, labour power, and equipment.'.

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China’s most prolific research areas are engineering followed by materials science and medicine. With a multi-discipline approach that includes engineering, design, and applied sciences, higher education in China has been voted as one of the best among the Asian countries. China has over 150 public and private-owned universities distributed over most of its provinces.

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Another important motivation behind the Belt and Road Initiative is to encourage economic development in China’s Xinjiang autonomous region, thus tackling the major problems of its Western provinces, including separatism, radical Islamism and terrorism, ethnic conflict, and underdevelopment. The government mapped its plans in 2015, aiming to make good use of Xinjiang’s geographical advantages, to make it a key hub in transportation, trade, logistics, culture, science, and education.

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But President Xi’s vision isn't only about putting a physical infrastructure in place. Beneath the blueprint to create a contiguous land and maritime zone is China’s response to the more exclusive mega-economic blocks such as the ones led by US, in the current climate of protectionist backlash. It is a long-term project to secure China’s geo-strategic realm with obvious political and security implications. In his speech to the BRI forum in Beijing on 15 May, President Xi linked the initiative to China’s foreign policy goals of win–win and common development, believing that it would ‘generate strong momentum for building a human community of shared future’.

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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 6.5 km Padma multipurpose road-rail bridge at a cost of $3.15 billion. Mainly funded by a soft loan from China, the project includes the construction of 66 major bridges, 224 minor bridges, 14 new stations and procurement of 100 passenger coaches. Not only will it link 21 southern districts of Bangladesh with the interior of the country, it is also expected to add 1.2 percent to the country’s GDP. Besides the six bridges built with Chinese assistance, Beijing is also giving financial support for a number of mega-infrastructure projects like the Barakpuria coal mine and coal-based electricity generation, the Shah Jalal fertiliser factory, and upgrading mobile networks for the introduction of 3G technology.

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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 its biggest infrastructure project since Kenya’s independence. Built by China at a cost of $3.2 billion in two and half years, it was mostly funded by China’s Exim Bank. The railway is a part of a master plan by East African leaders to connect their nations by rail. The line is eventually expected to connect Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo, South Sudan and Ethiopia to Mombasa so the Indian Ocean port can act as a gateway to East Africa for trade with China and other nations.

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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 across at the Arabian Peninsula. Analysts say it may be China’s first major overseas military base. Seen here, a ceremony held before ships carrying Chinese military personnel depart for Djibouti.

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Hambantota Port: The latest news is that Sri Lanka wants to reduce China’s stake in the Hambantota port deal. The debt-laden but strategically located port was built at an estimated cost of $1.5 billion amidst other commitments, including the development of a 15,000 acre industrial zone and an airport to rebuild the island nation's infrastructure after a quarter century of war. To thwart increasing opposition, Sri Lanka is hoping that the Chinese firm that holds 80 percent stake will agree to divesting up to 20 percent to a Sri Lankan firm after 10 years. A situation far removed from this scene of Sri Lankan traditional dancers performing at the launch of Hambantota port in 2010.

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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 major deal with Chinese company China Gezhouba Group Corporation (CGGC) to develop a 1,200 MW Budhigandaki hydroelectric project will change that. The biggest hydro project, funded by loans from Chinese financial institutions in the landlocked country, could resolve its perennial power crisis and lay the groundwork to establish Nepal as an electricity exporter. CGGC is currently building 30 MW Chameliya Hydropower Project in the far-west and 60 MW Upper Trishuli 3A Hydropower Project in the central region of Nepal. Another joint venture, the $150 million Upper Marsyangdi-A Hydroelectric Project in Central Nepal started generating power in September 2016.

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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 impoverished Laos, the offer was generous. Three years later, the Chinese-driven banana boom has brought jobs and high wages, but pesticides and polluted water sources have left the locals with mixed feelings.

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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, is the world’s biggest dry port. Established by the Kazakhstan government in 2011 to boost the country's exports, it covers 600 hectares of land that houses the dry port, logistic and production zones and railway cargo operations. Freight trains in China and Europe run on a rail gauge different from Russia and Kazakhstan. At the Gateway, the cargo containers are transferred to different wagons efficiently, a laborious process that is repeated again at the Belarus border for trains entering Europe.

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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 milestone in China's push to build commercial links across Europe and Asia, the train brought in a cargo of small commodities including household items, clothes, fabrics, bags, and suitcases.The freight costs are half that of air cargo and cut two weeks off the journey time by sea, passing through Kazakhstan, Russia, Belarus, Poland, Germany, Belgium and France. Prime Minister Theresa May has said the relationship with China remains "golden" as she seeks to bring in billions of dollars in Chinese investment as Britain prepares to leave the European Union. The China-Madrid railway line has experienced success by transporting olive oil back to China.

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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 historical cities such as Samarkand and Bukhara before it crosses into Iran. China’s demand for energy has led the country to scour the region for suppliers. The first freight train from China arrived in Tehran last year, completing the 10,400km journey in 14 days. Tehran, the most populous city in Western Asia, hopes the rail services will turn Iran into a major Eurasian trade hub. The rail links and close cooperation with Tehran will provide China greater access to the oil-rich Middle East as well as the Gulf countries.

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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. China and Turkmenistan agreed on a framework to provide China with a long-term supply of gas in 2006. Three major pipelines are already in operation. However, the fourth, under construction, was recently put on hold indefinitely amid reports of sagging demand for fuel. The line was to connect Beyneu on the eastern coast of the Caspian Sea to Turpan in Xinjiang, China, and provide China with an additional 15 billion cubic metres on top of the 55 billion cubic metres it already imports from Turkmenistan.

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Russia has joined hands with China for the Belt and Road Initiative. Russia’s geopolitical aims include containing the influence of the US and its allies in the region and maintaining the status quo, which for Russia means preserving secular and authoritarian post-Soviet leaders and ensuring that the region remains within its sphere of influence. Hence, the Russia-led Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU), a union of former USSR countries which includes Kazakhstan, Belarus, Kyrgyzstan, and Armenia as member states. The main aim of this initiative is to regulate economic activity over these territories by eliminating tariff and non-tariff barriers, and introduce free movement of goods, capital, services and people. In 2015, Russia and China signed the agreement on cooperation between EAEU and the BRI.

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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 and gas sector. According to the Russian Ministry of Energy, Chinese demand for LNG will continue to gradually grow at least until 2020.

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The newly built Gwadar port is the crux of China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), the BRI’s flagship project for convenient access to the Arabian Sea and the Indian Ocean. The first Chinese ship sailed on this new international trade route in November 2016, carrying goods to the Middle East and Africa. The goods had arrived on a truck convoy by a road linking China's Xinjiang region to Gwadar. The port site, leased to a Chinese company will include manufacturing zones, logistics hubs, warehouses, and display centres. Currently, a $62 billion package of energy and infrastructure projects are under construction throughout Pakistan. China is seeking convenient and reliable access to the Arabian Sea and the Indian Ocean. Another highlight of the CPEC plan is a rail link over the 4,693-meter high Khunjerab Pass that will provide direct access for Chinese and East Asian goods to Pakistani seaports at Karachi and Gwadar by 2030.

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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) passing through disputed Kashmir in Gilgit-Baltistan. Many countries including India who have not agreed to join the BRI also see this as an effort by China to expand its influence at their expense. European experts are calling BRI ‘less of a practical plan than a broad geopolitical vision’.