Building of Cooperative Regime for 21st-Century Maritime Silk Road

Abstract

21st-Century Maritime Silk Road is a regional cooperative regime and it will provide public goods for regional countries. 21st-Century Maritime Silk Road is a process of co-building, sharing and open. Co-building of 21st-Century Maritime Silk Road means regional countries share the responsibilities of providing public goods while China as a big country may provide bigger share for the public goods and sharing the public goods by the regional countries. As an open regime, 21st-Century Maritime Silk Road welcome other countries to join the “club” to share the responsibilities and obligation. As a new regime, 21st-Century Maritime Silk Road faces with 7 problems, including: the high trade volume between China and the countries along with Maritime Silk Road, the trade imbalance between China and the countries along with Maritime Silk Road, low level of institutionalization, easily effected economic relations by political or security relations, failed states along Maritime Silk Road, privacy in the Indian Ocean, difficulties in connectivity. These problems show the necessity and difficulties of Maritime Silk Road. Building of Cooperative Regime for 21st-Century Maritime Silk Road including five platforms: trade promotion and trade disputes settlement platform, connectivity platform, finance platform, official development aid platform, and foreign investment platform. The elevation of Cooperative Regime for 21st-Century Maritime Silk Road can be done from the dimensions of effectiveness and legitimacy. 21st-Century Maritime Silk Road is proposed by China and should be beneficial for the national interests of China while it is worth noticed that the interests of Maritime Silk Road as a cooperative regime does not necessary identical with China’s national interests. With the enlarging of members of Maritime Silk Road, the dilemma between effectiveness and legitimacy will become significant which requires more delicate design.