Big Questions, Expert Answers
New Series Explores Asia’s Future
China’s Belt & Road
China’s flagship foreign policy effort could reshape the world’s digital, trade, and transport networks and political ties for decades to come.
209 Items, Page 40 of 42
China in Europe
What is new about China’s Belt and Road is that it is more likely to succeed outside of Eurasia, leading to new opportunities but also unexpected challenges for Europe and the United States.
Vaporware in the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor
On November 13, a single Chinese ship bound for Africa left the newly-operational port of Gwadar in Balochistan, Pakistan. Pakistan’s Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, presiding over the inauguration of the facility, described the event as a “watershed” moment. It was the final leg of a journey that started several weeks earlier, when a convoy of Chinese trucks carrying the goods crossed the border into Gilgit-Balistan, 2600 kilometers north. Prime Minister Sharif gave assurances that the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), of which Gwadar is the crown jewel, would materialize on schedule.
Matthew Goodman: US, Japan Can Aid Asia’s Infrastructure Boom
Asia’s economic growth has fueled a boom in infrastructure investment across the region. China has taken a lead role with its newly launched Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank and its Belt and Road Initiative — also known as “One Belt, One Road” — which aims to improve connectivity and cooperation between China and the rest of Eurasia.
The Role of U.S. Soft-Infrastructure in Influencing the Reconnecting of Asia
In October, CSIS launched its Reconnecting Asia project, which seeks to track the various initiatives by China, Russia, Japan, South Korea, and other growing Asian powers to reconnect Asia and Europe via old trade routes. These modern-day Silk Roads will use highways, railroads, ports, bridges, and pipelines to reduce the travel time between the two continents. The best known of these initiatives is China’s “One Belt, One Road” in Central Asia. This is an ambitious undertaking across 43 countries that encompasses 69 percent of the global population and 60 percent of global gross domestic product (GDP). The efforts to reconnect Asia with Europe will be one of the biggest forces shaping the next 30 years, bringing new markets, people, and resources into the fabric of the global geopolitical landscape. If successful, it will revolutionize logistics and create trillions of dollars in economic value through increased trade and economic activity.