The Silk Road as a Model for the BRI

Abstract

Roads are dynamic. Among various trade roads such as the Great Inka Road, Steppe Road, Silk Road, Tea Horse Road, Tea Road and Maritime Porcelain Road, the Silk Road has been raised three times in its history. Nomads and merchant communities on Silk Road moved more frequently, they had more opportunities to make pathways. The Mongols established their horse courier stations (Mongolian: örtöö) in the vast Eurasian plain during the Mongolian Empire. Through the courier service, letters, oral messages and news passed extremely rapidly. The Mongolian Khans or emperors created a management of trade routes across different countries, providing and protecting peace on the territory. They established the Pax Mongolia (Mongol Peace) in various countries. During the time of Mongol Peace, many different commodities, methods of trade, forms of international trade, forms of financial instruments and new payment facilities were originated along the Silk Road. The Mongols “globalized” the world at that time. Nowadays the People’s Republic of China (PRC) is adopting similar operations in its current foreign and economic policies. In 2013, the Chinese president announced the “Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st-century Maritime Silk Road” strategy; the term was further abbreviated as to the “Belt and Road Initiative” (BRI) expressing a comprehensive economic structure for the land-based economies of Eurasia and sea routes to Europe, Africa and other Asian ports. The concept of the historical Silk Road stays behind the the BRI initiative.