Looking at China's Belt and Road

Xi Jinping began talking about China’s Belt and Road Initiative in Kazakhstan in 2013, but China’s government began encouraging firms to “go out” in the late 1990s. More than 100 countries and nearly 30 international organizations have signed Belt and Road memoranda of understanding with the Chinese government to cooperate with Beijing on facilitating connectivity and trade and fostering people to people exchanges. The initiative has sought to bind China to its neighbors through physical infrastructure and telecommunications and to foster trade and investment. China’s leaders want to develop the country’s border regions and to create conditions for continued economic advance.

The USC U.S.-China Institute has hosted talks and produced resources looking at the impact of the Belt and Road Initiative. Links to these are below.

Events

Carolijn Van Noort On China’s Belt And Road Initiative Narratives
Carolijn van Noort explores on how China’s international political communication of the Belt and Road Initiative comprises narratives about infrastructure and the historical  Silk Road.

Panel Discussion On China’s Belt And Road Initiative In Action
A USC U.S.-China Institute panel discussion on the economic, environmental, social and political impact China's Belt and Road Initiative has in Southeast and Central Asia.

David Shambaugh on the US and China in Southeast Asia
David Shambaugh spoke on his new book focusing on the United States and China in one of the world's most dynamic regions.

David Lampton on China’s effort to create an intercountry railway system
The USC U.S.-China Institute talks with author David M. Lampton on his new book, which examines China’s effort to create an intercountry railway system connecting China and its seven Southeast Asian neighbors.

Tom Narins on Sovereignty and the Belt and Road Initiative
Professor Tom Narins from the University at Albany (SUNY Albany) on how the Belt and Road Initiative illustrates ways that sovereignty works that conventional international relations fail to account for. 

Resources

Comparing U.S. & China Trade In Southeast Asia
We look at how reliant Southeast Asian nations are on trade with China and with the U.S. China is the top trading partner for all, but the U.S. Is a key export market for many.

Investing In Latin America
Since then Chinese President Jiang Zemin visited Latin America in 2001, China has become more engaged in the region. Chinese investment and loans to Latin America have declined in the last few years, but the region remains important to China as a market for goods and a source of essential energy and products.

Playing With Trade Blocs
After President Trump withdrew the U.S. from the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), the remaining 11 countries negotiated a new trade deal, the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), which was signed in March 2018. At the same time, China was negotiating its own trade deal, the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), whose 15 countries would account for 30% of the world’s population and GDP if it is ratified.

U.S. & China Trade With G7 Members
Our infographic compares U.S. and Chinese trade with G7 member countries.

What China’s Belt And Road Initiative Means For Cambodia (US-China Today magazine)
In a US-dominated age, China seeks to return to its former glory by reviving the interconnectedness and vitality of the Silk Road through the Belt and Road Initiative.

Documents

Xi Jinping speeches outlining what becomes the Belt and Road Initiative, Kazakhstan (Sept. 7, 2013) and Indonesia (Oct. 2, 2013)

Congressional Research Service, China's "One Belt, One Road Initiative" - Economic Issues, January 22, 2021

UN Development Programme, Brief on China's White Paper on International Development Cooperation, January 2021 ("major platform: BRI")

PRC State Council White Paper, China's International Development Cooperation in the New Era, January 10, 2021 (much on the BRI)

PRC State Council White Paper, China and the World in the New Era, September, 2019 (much on the BRI)

U.S. Senate, Hearing on China's Belt and Road Initiative, June 12, 2019

Xi Jinping, Working Together to Deliver a Brighter Future (2nd Belt and Road Forum), April 26, 2019

Xi Jinping, Opening Of Belt And Road Forum, May 14, 2017 (and earlier at the World Economic Forum, January 17, 2017)

U.S.-China Economic and Security Commission, Hearing on China and Southeast Asia, May 13, 2015

U.S.-China Economic and Security Commission, Hearing on China and Central Asia, March 18, 2015