S5 Ep29: Director's Cut: Reflections on five years of China's Belt and Road Initiative

Bruegel fellows Alicia García-Herrero and Uri Dadush join
Guntram Wolff for this Director's Cut of 'The Sound of
Economics', focusing on the progress made by China's Belt and
Road Initiative, how it will continue to develop, and the
reactions it has stirred across the world.


China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is a trade and development
strategy proposed by Xi Jinping in 2013. It aims to enhance
development prospects via infrastructure, trade, and investment
on a trans-continental scale, and is hence often referred to as
'the 21st century's Silk Road'.


Five years after its launch, how well has the BRI been received
and how much potential does it still hold? Two Bruegel scholars,
Alicia García-Herrero and Uri Dadush sit down with Bruegel's
director Guntram Wolff to discuss their analyses of the
initiative.


In a recent Policy Contribution, Uri Dadush and Michael
Baltensperger reflect on the background and context of the BRI,
and critically assess the project's potential for future
performance. In this podcast episode, Uri points to the worrisome
aspects of the initiative, particularly the lack of transparency
and due diligence concerning the issue of debt trap, as well as
China's poor regard for the possible environmental impact.


In a newly released Working Paper, Alicia García-Herrero and
Jianwei Xu analyse large amounts of data to identify the trends
in the global perception of the BRI. In this episode Alicia lets
us in on their findings. For example, she explains why – despite
the generally positive image of the initiative – it is the
Central European countries, which benefited from substantial
assistance from China, that have a relatively negative perception
of the initiative.


For further reading, you may consider Simone Tagliapietra
and Shivali Pandya's blog post on Chinese investment in
European maritime ports, as well as a piece by Alicia
García-Herrero and Jianwei Xu discussing what the Belt and
Road Initiative means for EU trade.