Impact of Belt and Road Initiative on Asian Economies

Abstract

Chinese President Jinping initiated one of China’s grandiose foreign policy initiatives in 2013. He emphasized on the reconstruction of Silk Road Economic Belt and a twenty-first century Maritime Silk Road (MSR), together referred as Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). The BRI presents opportunity for trade, investment, and jobs between China and Asian economies that will support increasing consumption, infrastructure development, political associations, and sustainable development in many parts of the world. This article examines the BRI project and its growth, specifically from the Asian perspective. The study is an endeavor to identify the impact of BRI on the growth of Asian economies along the BRI route (corridors). For achieving this objective, data has been obtained from various websites and the time period considered is between 2009 and 2016. The panel data regression has been used with controllable macroeconomic variables. The results based on multiple models indicate a significant impact of BRI on the economic growth of Asian Economies. Other macroeconomic variables, such as imports, political stability, and corruption, also have a significant impact on the economic growth of the Asian economies.