loader image

Prospect of Launching ‘One Belt One Road’ Initiative

2022/03/31 | Economy, Note, top news

Strategic Council Online - Opinion: During a visit to Kazakhstan and Indonesia in September and October 2013, Chinese President Xi Jinping raised the joint initiative of the 21st century known as “One Belt One Road”; he introduced this plan as the main axis of his foreign and domestic policy. Currently, 145 countries of the world are part of China’s large economic project. Ali Khansari - International affairs analyst

The new Silk Road initiative includes a surface route (belt) and a sea route (road). The surface route starts from China and passes through Central Asia to reach the heart of Europe. The Silk Road Belt also connects the four regions of Central Asia, West Asia, South Asia and the Arabian Peninsula. The sea route of the Silk Road also consists mainly of the economic corridors of China-Pakistan, Bangladesh-China-India-Myanmar.

The ultimate goal of the “One Belt One Road Initiative” is to build a society with a common destiny for humanity, which is defined as a new global system of economic, political, and security interdependencies with China at the center. That is why Chinese leaders describe One Belt One Road as a national strategy with economic, political and diplomatic factors.

One Belt One Road Initiative in 2021

China’s financial participation and investment in the One Way One Belt Initiative was 59.5 billion dollars in 2021, down by 1.6 percent from the previous year, of which about 13.9 billion dollars was through investment and 45.6 billion dollars through different contracts; also China’s investment in countries outside the plan also grew by 73% in comparison with 2020, amounting to 35.58 billion dollars.

Statistics show that Asian countries accounted for the largest share of the project (around 35% in 2021), however African and Middle Eastern countries accounted for the largest share of China (from 8% in 2020 to around 38% in 2021); in addition, investment in European countries has decreased by 84% compared to the first 6 months of 2020; such an investment in the Arab and Middle Eastern countries has increased by about 360 percent as compared to 2020.

Iraq is the biggest beneficiary of this economic plan; it ranks first in Chinese construction and investment financing contracts (10.5 billion dollars in 2021).

Challenges for advancing ‘One Belt One Road initiative’

The biggest challenge for China’s economic super-project is insecurity and tensions in the international system, with Ukraine, for example, playing a key role in that project. On June 6, 2020, China and Ukraine signed a government agreement to expand joint cooperation in infrastructure development. Ukraine is one of China’s most important trading partners in Europe, and in recent years China has made huge economic investments in its ports and transportation infrastructure as part of One Belt One Road plan.

The KAFCO Group, the Chinese agricultural business giant, has invested 50 million dollars in Mariupol, a city in Donetsk which is controlled by the central government opponents. The Ukraine crisis and the shaky relationship between Russia, Belarus and the European Union in the future will slow down the investment process or advancement of the planned China targets in Eastern Europe.

In addition, growing dissatisfaction of the national and international environmental organizations has led Chinese companies to set more stringent and accurate environmental standards for infrastructure projects.

Some politicians and economists also accuse China of using debt traps to gain control of strategic areas of various countries, for example, some experts believe that China has used the debt trap to lease the port of Hambantota in Sri Lanka for 99 years.

Concluding remarks

The launch of China’s One Belt One Road Initiative despite being an economic project, would enhance China’s strategic influence in different parts of the world; furthermore, China, with its economic interdependence and increased trade volume with all countries of the world, has made it impossible for different countries to ignore their economic interests with China in the future or support the United States in the event of a China-US conflict.

0 Comments

Submit a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

LATEST CONTENT

West’s Strategy to Contain China

Strategic Council Online – Opinion: Banning the use of the Chinese application TikTok in Britain, for security reasons, is considered the last reaction of the West to China’s influence and global power-building.
Hossein Sayyahi – International politics researcher

An analysis of the political weighing process in the recent G20 summit

Strategic Council Online-Interview: An expert on European issues stated that the recent G20 summit was a demonstration of the alignment of the great and emerging powers of the world after Russia attacked Ukraine, adding that what happened in this summit demonstrated the transparency of the policies announced and applied by the members and during the summit some countries had to choose either to stand by Russia and against the West or this country.

Iran’s Defense Diplomacy, Marine Security Belt Exercise 2023

Strategic Council Online – Interview: The commander of the strategic naval forces of the army said that the 2023 marine security belt joint exercise would help to develop cooperation between the naval forces of Iran, China, and Russia, as well as increase the readiness to provide maritime security and safety jointly in line with creating peace and regional stability, announced the efforts being made to have the countries of the region participate in a marine belt exercise as well as the cooperation of the commanders of the Indian Ocean Naval Forces Symposium (IONS) for the following year.

Analysis of Iraq – Germany Energy Agreements

Strategic Council Online – Opinion: While preliminary agreements have been made regarding the export of oil and gas to Germany and Europe, Baghdad will face great challenges in realizing its ambitious goals.
Pouria Nabipour – PhD in political science and international relations

An analysis of the ineffectiveness of the international law system

Strategic Council Online—Opinion: On March 17, 2023, the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Vladimir Putin, the President of Russia, and for the first time in the history of the United Nations after the Second World War, the president of a country that has a permanent membership in the Security Council and the right to veto it, is facing a sentence and criminal detention in the international criminal system; This indicates a structural change in the international law system.
Seyyed Nasrollah Ebrahimi—Associate Professor, College of Law and Political Sciences, University of Tehran

Dr. Kharazi’s met Najib Miqati

Strategic Council Online: Dr. Seyed Kamal Kharazi, the president of the Strategic Council on Foreign Relations, on the last day of his stay in Beirut, met with Mr. Najib Mikati, Acting Prime Minister of Lebanon.

Loading

Últimas publicaciones

West’s Strategy to Contain China

Strategic Council Online – Opinion: Banning the use of the Chinese application TikTok in Britain, for security reasons, is considered the last reaction of the West to China’s influence and global power-building.
Hossein Sayyahi – International politics researcher

An analysis of the political weighing process in the recent G20 summit

Strategic Council Online-Interview: An expert on European issues stated that the recent G20 summit was a demonstration of the alignment of the great and emerging powers of the world after Russia attacked Ukraine, adding that what happened in this summit demonstrated the transparency of the policies announced and applied by the members and during the summit some countries had to choose either to stand by Russia and against the West or this country.

Iran’s Defense Diplomacy, Marine Security Belt Exercise 2023

Strategic Council Online – Interview: The commander of the strategic naval forces of the army said that the 2023 marine security belt joint exercise would help to develop cooperation between the naval forces of Iran, China, and Russia, as well as increase the readiness to provide maritime security and safety jointly in line with creating peace and regional stability, announced the efforts being made to have the countries of the region participate in a marine belt exercise as well as the cooperation of the commanders of the Indian Ocean Naval Forces Symposium (IONS) for the following year.

Analysis of Iraq – Germany Energy Agreements

Strategic Council Online – Opinion: While preliminary agreements have been made regarding the export of oil and gas to Germany and Europe, Baghdad will face great challenges in realizing its ambitious goals.
Pouria Nabipour – PhD in political science and international relations

An analysis of the ineffectiveness of the international law system

Strategic Council Online—Opinion: On March 17, 2023, the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Vladimir Putin, the President of Russia, and for the first time in the history of the United Nations after the Second World War, the president of a country that has a permanent membership in the Security Council and the right to veto it, is facing a sentence and criminal detention in the international criminal system; This indicates a structural change in the international law system.
Seyyed Nasrollah Ebrahimi—Associate Professor, College of Law and Political Sciences, University of Tehran

Dr. Kharazi’s met Najib Miqati

Strategic Council Online: Dr. Seyed Kamal Kharazi, the president of the Strategic Council on Foreign Relations, on the last day of his stay in Beirut, met with Mr. Najib Mikati, Acting Prime Minister of Lebanon.

Loading