Emerging and developing markets are competing to attract outside investment and playing an even greater role in the global economy.
Accompanying our MERICS China Forecast 2021 event, MERICS experts wages a look at three global challenges in 2021, namely decoupling and the evolution of multilateralism, cooperation and competition in the climate crisis, and the development of connectivity in a world plagued by a pandemic. For every section we are proud to introduce a very accomplished and knowledgeable guest.
A notorious ex-gangster from China is launching an $18 billion economic development zone in Myawaddy, Myanmar under the banner of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). But experts say the project’s plans are centered on illegal gambling. If true, this could spell trouble for Beijing.
Chinese leader Xi Jinping surprised the world in late September by announcing that China would become carbon neutral by 2060. But this promise will amount to little if Xi’s signature foreign policy vision, the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), continues exporting China’s environmental challenges globally. China’s poor environmental record abroad presents a strategic opportunity for the United States, if only Washington would seize it.
The Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank’s (AIIB) response to Covid-19 may determine its emerging role in development finance, for good or ill. While it has responded quickly and substantially to the pressing needs of its members, these actions risk contributing to debt risks, institutional overreach, and perceived favoritism towards Beijing.
Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin are attempting to put economics at the center of their strategic partnership, but a closer look at four dimensions of China-Russia connectivity reveals a partnership of unequals that will become even more lopsided in the future.