Huge potential gains of China’s ‘One Belt, One Road’ are worth the risks

To many, China’s “One Belt, One Road” initiative seems little more than a buzz word. Scepticism abounds. Does China mainly want to export excess capacity? Is it up to the task of traversing territories fraught with political and geopolitical uncertainties? Governments aside, where is the attraction for the private sector? Would corporate governance and environmental standards be compromised? What role, if any, can Hong Kong’s small and medium-sized businesses and professionals play?

Roadblocks and detours aplenty on China’s New Silk Road

The maritime silk road connects China’s east coast to ports including Colombo in Sri Lanka, Gwadar in Pakistan, across the Indian Ocean, through the Red Sea to Greece’s Piraeus, ending in Venice. The overland economic belt connects Venice to Duisburg in Germany, across to Moscow, through Central Asia and western China to end in Xian ( 西安 ), the ancient capital where the historic Silk Road began.

According to a business report, the initiative will create six transnational China-centric economic corridors: a new Eurasian land bridge of freight trains connecting the port of Lianyungang in Jiangsu ( 江蘇 ) province to Rotterdam; a Mongolia-Russia corridor; a Central Asia-West Asia corridor; an Indochina peninsula corridor; a Pakistan corridor; and a Bangladesh-China-India-Myanmar corridor.

“One Belt, One Road” is also invoked for China’s infrastructural investments in other parts of Southeast Asia, North Africa, as well as various countries in Central and Western Europe. While “One Belt, One Road” investments follow predetermined routes, other associated investments are being tagged on as a code word for China’s outbound global strategy.

United Nations highlights ‘One Belt, One Road’ crime risks

The rationale is global connectivity, which defines the 21st century. It is part and parcel of what the World Economic Forum calls the Fourth Industrial Revolution. China is a central hub for the world’s production, supply, logistics and value chain. “One Belt, One Road” will deepen China’s infrastructural, economic, institutional and cultural connectivity with key parts of the globe. Not only will this enhance China’s global rapport and influence, it will also help counter exposure to geopolitical risks inherent in America’s “Asia rebalancing”, and China’s own energy security challenge and other imponderables in the South China Sea.