What is the reality of China’s Belt and Road Initiative, on the ground? As widespread questions emerge about the true scale and scope of President Xi Jinping’s most prominent foreign policy venture, we followed its route for 23,000km from Italy to China to evaluate its progress.
Follow three young explorers from Venice to Beijing as they study how ancient trading routes are being reshaped by China’s Rise.
“Eurasia is thus the chessboard on which the struggle for global primacy continues to be played,” the late Dr. Zbigniew Brzezinski wrote two decades ago. His words ring true again as a massive infrastructure competition unfolds across the Eurasian supercontinent. If the roads, railways, and other connections that are emerging today shift flows of goods, people, and ideas, the long-term implications could be profound. This collection includes essays from our Big Questions series, in which leading experts examine this potentially epochal shift.
Quotes and Quotas is a weekly digest of powerful phrases and facts that help explain Asia’s infrastructure push.
From October 18 to 25, China held its 19th Party Congress in Beijing, an event scheduled twice each decade to elect party leadership and set the party’s policy agenda. In a surprise move, the Congress announced its decision to include new language enshrining President Xi Jinping’s flagship foreign policy initiative, the “Belt and Road” (BRI), in its constitution. The following quotes related to the Belt and Road are drawn from Xi’s opening remarks.