Opinion | The strengths and pitfalls of China’s Belt and Road Initiative, six years in

The belt and road is changing shape, making inroads into Europe, the Pacific and Latin America. Beijing is increasingly willing to fund projects that symbolise the country’s resurgence, but it should be wary of using economic might to sway policy

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Published: 2:00am, 25 Mar 2019Updated: 2:00am, 25 Mar 2019

Next month, all roads will lead to Beijing again as China hosts the second Belt and Road Forum. It provides an opportunity to review what has been accomplished and discuss how to address implementation challenges. Entering its sixth year, China’s development plan is extending its reach and has gone beyond physical infrastructure. The trillion-dollar initiative may have a greater role to play as Chinese trade and investment suffer setbacks in the West, such as through the trade war and heightened national security scrutiny.

As the “Belt and Road Initiative” gains traction, there are also more hurdles to overcome. The challenges include seeking more local input in host countries and weathering changes in foreign leadership. Beyond these, there are six things to note about the unfolding plan.

First, the initiative is gradually developing into a grand strategy for Chinese foreign policy. China’s foray into overseas infrastructure projects did not begin with the belt and road plan, but President Xi Jinping’s announcement of the strategy in 2013 gave shape to China’s ambition. The extension of Xi’s presidency gives continued priority to the plan. The Belt and Road Initiative was included in the 2019 government work report presented early this month. By meeting the huge global demand for infrastructure, it may be a vehicle for Beijing to establish its envisioned community with a shared future for mankind.

Second, the plan has great flexibility. To date, there has been no definitive accounting of which projects fall under or outside the plan. Such flexibility allows participating countries to assure their people that cooperation with China enables them to accomplish part of their national infrastructure plans without compromising national priorities in terms of project selection and funding.

However, states without clear, coherent national connectivity plans and a limited pool of external partners are more vulnerable to external interference. Host countries also argue that although China is a big player in infrastructure, it is not the only one and they still have discretion in choosing partners for identified projects.

Third, the belt and road plan is expanding beyond Eurasia and Africa. The attendance of leaders of Italy, Spain, Switzerland, Fiji, Argentina and Chile in the first Belt and Road Forum in 2017 speaks of how the plan is making inroads into western Europe, the Pacific and Latin America. Ministers from Australia, Brazil, Finland, Germany, New Zealand and Britain also attended the first summit.