Belt Road Initiative Research Articles

Beijing consensus diplomacy: A promoter or threat to Africa’s pathway to sustainable development

Using a qualitative research methodology and explanatory approach to collect data, we assessed whether the Beijing Consensus diplomacy in Africa is a promoter or threat to Africa’s pathway to sustainable development. The collected data were analysed using document and content analysis techniques. Analysis of the data revealed that the Beijing Consensus diplomacy in Africa is a positive initiative that has created a win-win situation, promoting sustainable development. The Beijing Consensus is opposed to the Washington Consensus, which influenced a win-lose situation that has deepened poverty, making Africa unable to move towards achieving sustainable development. The study found that China’s resource-for-development approach has similarities with pre-colonial Africa’s barter trade approach, which Africans practised in the entire continent. The analysis showed that applying the Beijing Consensus diplomacy to Africa has led to economic growth and development. The results showed that China’s Belt Road Initiative has transformed Africa, changing the continent from poverty to economic productivity, as road infrastructure is associated with economic growth and development. Moreover, it was evident from the analysis that without an African continental foreign policy rooted in continental sovereignty with transparent terms and conditions, Africa’s current benefits from China’s investments would lead to poverty instead of sustainable development. A continental foreign policy would create an African Consensus, which would act on behalf of the entire continent. This African Consensus diplomacy would thus become a continental foreign policy defining Africa globally. However, as it stands, the Beijing Consensus diplomacy is a promoter of sustainable development, but this promotion would not last long without African Consensus diplomacy. The study recommends that Africa should establish a continental foreign policy with African Consensus diplomacy to enable the continent to have one standard foreign policy and goal when trading with China and any other external world.

Quantifying future carbon emissions uncertainties under stochastic modeling and Monte Carlo simulation: Insights for environmental policy consideration for the Belt and Road Initiative Region

This study critically examines future carbon (CO2) emissions in the Belt & Road Initiative (BRI) region, considering factors such as energy consumption, economic growth, population growth, and population density. The objective of this study is to identify critical areas of higher emissions, which require policy intervention capable of strengthening sustainability in the BRI compact. A combined approach of stochastic modeling and Monte Carlo simulations was employed, utilizing panel data from 45 countries in the BRI region from 1990 to 2021. Results confirm that emissions are higher in all scenarios in direct proportion to electric power consumption, population growth, and Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth. In scenarios with high emissions, a continuous and significant upward trend in CO2 emissions was observe. The medium emissions scenario exhibited a more moderated rise in emissions, suggesting a balance between economic development and environmental considerations. Critical areas for future environmental policy-making resides in electric power consumption, population growth, and GDP growth. The study strongly recommends for a shift from the current focus on road and railway infrastructure to renewable energy infrastructure, green innovations and efficient technology transfer to member countries. Without this, the BRI region is likely to face increased emissions, posing significant challenges to future sustainable development and global environmental sustainability.

Dirty Tracks Across the Border: Global Operations of Extraction, Labour and Migration at a Railway Station on the Bihar–Nepal Border

This article is based on an ethnography of the railway siding at Raxaul Junction railway station, a town on the Bihar–Nepal border, which finds itself at the intersection of a massive logistical exercise by China in the form of the Belt Road Initiative, counter-logistical apparatus building by India and incremental hardening of an otherwise ‘open’ border by Nepal. The article will analyse in detail the intricate network of the labour market that operates at and through the railway siding. It will also trace the origins of commodities used in the cement factories in the industrial corridor of Nepal that are extracted from some of the most deprived regions of India at great human and social costs. Finally, I will describe some of the latest exercises in logistical operations such as containerisation, opening of a new land port, the Integrated Check Post in Raxaul and operationalisation of a new dedicated freight corridor from Vishakhapatnam port to Raxaul, which is reconfiguring the logistical arrangements away from Kolkata and Haldia port and their implications on labour and labour practices. The Raxaul railway siding will be, hence, studied on multiple scales: global, national and local. The article will also try to understand the transformation of this very peculiar border town located on a unique border. This transformation is creating new labour processes, migratory processes and networks, and new modes of production of workers’ subjectivities and resistance along the global logistical apparatus and supply chains. It will also open up the possibilities of thinking conceptually about ‘South Asian Border Systems’.

The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership: intellectual property and trade in the Asia-Pacific

ABSTRACT This article considers the evolution of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) – with a particular focus on intellectual property, trade, and sustainable development. This narrative concentrates on the position of Australia – while also discussing the interests of other participating nations. This article charts the aims and objectives of the intellectual property chapter of RCEP. It explores the copyright provisions of RCEP – considering the implications for access to knowledge, innovation, and competition. This article examines the treatment of trade mark law, Internet Domain Names, and geographical indications. It evaluates the regime for patent law and related rights such as data protection, trade secrets, and biologics – with a particular concern for access to medicines and the COVID-19 crisis. It also explores sui generis regimes of intellectual property – such as plant breeder's rights, access to genetic resources, and Indigenous intellectual property. The conclusion considers the future of RCEP – especially given competing mega agreements such as the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP); the Belt Road Initiative; and the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity.

Belt Road initiative(BRI):Global Strategy of Economic & Politic Made in China

This article is a brief exploring of BRI (Belt Road Initiative) which is launched on 2013 in China and worked by double spearheads covered global economic and politic relationship of counterpart countries. By the record, BRI has 139 counterpart countries in the world. It shown quite succeed endeavor; since China achieve it in short time, relatively. Some highlight points of the exploring are the sense of initiative regarding to raise up historical memories of Silk Road and basic international trade theory of Comparative Advantage, which is innovated and applied on contemporary global economic and politic practices. At the eventually, this paper is concluded that BRI’s way is worth to be adopted as a model to build an advantage business strategy.

An Introduction to a Way of Increasing Chinese International Influence: The Implementation of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI)

This article is written for a general audience of economists, including those who have a novice understanding of this subject. China continues to become more important in the community of nations. In order\to promote further internationalization of China’s influence, major strategies are being pursued. The focus of this article is the implementation of the ambitious program of the Belt Road Initiative (BRI). Within China, this program is called One Belt One Road (Chinese: 一带一路; pinyin: Yīdài Yīlù) or OBOR for short. This is a global infrastructure development strategy adopted by the Chinese government in 2013 to invest in more than 150 countries and international organizations (World Bank, 2019). This article states that China benefits from the BRI and it was found that lower- and middle-income countries are more inclined to join the BRI, in comparison to high income countries This tendency is not 100 percent true. Simultaneously, there is the effort to increase the use of Chinese Renminbi (RMB) in transactions between all nations. (Chinese yuan is another phrase for RMB.) The Chinese RMB already has attained the status of reserve currency (Gentle, 2016). Of course, there is a lot of synergy between the implementation of the BRI and other means for increasing the international presence of China. This article asks the research question of does the BRI increase China’s international presence in the BRI? The answer is yes, considering the many countries, organizations and projects involved in the BRI. Tables in this article convey this information. This article may serve as a broad introduction to the BRI. The reader can thus move on to explore what other researchers have done on this issue.

Analyzing the Chinese narrative of new international relations in the context of belt road initiative (BRI)

Analyzing the Chinese narrative of new international relations in the context of belt road initiative (BRI)

China's Belt & Road Initiative hydropower cooperation: what can be improved?

China's international hydropower projects have been streamlined as a major focus of the Belt & Road Initiative (BRI). These hydropower projects have shown many positive outcomes in promoting the energy infrastructure and local economic development in BRI countries. However, insufficient attention is given to scrutinizing the limitations of Belt and Road hydropower collaboration, hindering the potential for amplifying its beneficial impacts. This study reveals the tendency and distinctiveness of China's development finance, contributing to providing a clearer picture of where and how the massive BRI hydropower cooperation is taking place and what might be the limitations. Our analysis shows that a) China's development finance for the BRI power cooperation was heavily concentrated on the hydropower sector compared to other energy alternatives, thereby creating a promising renewable energy development of BRI. b) BRI hydropower projects are dominated by large dams in specific regions, and c) the predominance of large dams and the geographic concentration should be gradually adjusted to bring BRI hydropower cooperation more social and environmental progress.

THE COMPARISON BETWEEN CHINA AND THE UNITED STATE (US) RIVALRY IN COVID-19 VACCINE INDUSTRY: AN EXMINATION FROM INDONESIAN PERSPECTIVE

The trade war between the US and China has not ended so far; coupled with the outbreak of Covid-19 outbreak, the two countries are increasingly demonstrating their hegemonic power in their way; China, with its Belt Road Initiative, and the US, which has long been the ruler of the world. We can see vaccine competition between the US and China from the many vaccine companies in the two countries circulating in the world. This study aims to analyze Indonesia's response to vaccine competition between China and America using the hegemonic theory. In this study, the authors used qualitative methods. The author argues that by using free and active Indonesia Foreign Policy from Indonesia's point of view, Indonesia's response to the two countries is still neutral, such as how Indonesia responds to the competition between the two countries, starting from the Vaccine Cooperation with Russia, making its vaccines, to Indonesia's position as a Non-Aligned country. However, it does not rule out the possibility that Indonesia will not receive the full aid quota from the two countries.

The Belt-Road Initiative and prospects, Iraq as a model -Strategic Vision

The Chinese Belt and Road initiative is a revival of the idea of ​​the ancient Silk Road, which dates back to the second century BC, and was a network of roads traveled by caravans to transport commercial goods between China, Central Asia, Persia, the Arabs, and Europe, and silk was one of the most important goods that China exported. China believes that this road serves most of humanity and is based on the development of a large number of regions. It is not limited to 68 countries through which roads and sea lines pass, but rather it will revive global trade and raise growth rates.
 The importance of Iraq and the Arab region, in general, emerged in the Chinese strategic perception as a source of energy. Historical studies indicate that China's relationship with the Arab region dates back to 2000 BC. The location of the Arab region in an important global strategic region near Asia and North Africa and its enjoyment of a long history, honorable civilization, and abundant natural resources, created exchanges between both the Arab-Chinese sides in various fields through what was called (the Silk Road and the Perfume Road by land and sea ). China has sought to regard Iraq as a starting point for it in the Arab world and in the Asian continent, which can serve its strategic objectives in the African continent as well and express its prestige as a great Asian power. And since Iraq is a producer and exporter of oil, therefore China views it as a country of strategic importance, and Iraq can establish a foreign policy with diverse relations and reduce the status or level of its relations with Washington and focus on increasing its cooperation with China, which does not show more interest in political affairs than in economic affairs. In addition, Iraq's relationship with China does not harm the United States of America.
 China seeks to gain Iraq as a strategic ally in the region on the one hand and to preserve the source of oil supplies and investment projects on the other hand. The Chinese project ((The Belt and Road)) provides Iraq with a strategic opportunity to achieve its national interests in terms of economic and trade (transit through Iraq) towards the continent of Europe and the Levant region and vice versa, as Iraq needs to diversify the sources of national income and thus strengthen the Iraqi economy in addition to selling imports oil. Therefore, Iraq is supposed to adopt a strategic approach based on seizing the opportunities available in the international strategic environment and employing the Chinese interest in it to benefit from the initiative. Especially since China has become a center of attraction in the environment of international alliances and alliances. security, including Iraq.

The Application of Mask Diplomacy: China’s Belt and Road Initiative as Health Diplomacy in Middle East and North Africa (MENA) Countries During COVID-19

China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is a diversification of economic, diplomatic, and geopolitical activities, previously known as the “New Silk Road”, which was later changed to “One Belt and One Road”. BRI is one of the Chinese Government’s most ambitious foreign and economic policies. China uses this route to expand its influence and gain attention in destinations in commodities, energy, transportation, and others in the Middle East & North Africa (MENA) countries. This paper uses descriptive qualitative methods to explore various unique phenomena from the Health Silk Road against Vaccination in MENA countries. As a result, 17 countries have become members of the BRI and have cooperated with China, and at this time of the COVID-19 pandemic crisis, most MENA countries are using vaccine diplomacy from China to overcome their crisis. This situation is used for China to carry out “Mask Diplomacy” to expand its influence in MENA countries. This proves to be effective for China in improving and creating more significant opportunities to emerge as a “hero” in providing health services to developing countries while increasing its presence in the world. Kata Kunci: COVID-19; Vaccine diplomacy; Belt Road Initiative; Mask Diplomacy; MENA

Multi-objective optimization for multimodal transportation routing problem with stochastic transportation time based on data-driven approaches

We study a multi-objective optimization model of a stochastic multimodal transportation network considering key impact factors such as transit cost, time, and transport mode schedule while minimizing total transportation cost and transportation time. In this study, we apply the Monte Carlo simulation to deal with the stochastic transportation time in the network and propose a data-driven approach that combines historical data and the dataset generated by the data mining algorithm to accelerate the search for the nondominated solution in the simulation. To validate the effectiveness of the proposed Data-Driven Multi-Objective Simulation Ant Colony (DD-MSAC) algorithm, we compare the optimum-seeking performance and the running time consumption of the Nondominated Sorting Genetic Algorithm-II (NSGA-II) and the Multi-Objective Simulation Ant Colony (MSAC) algorithm. Then, the MSAC algorithm is adopted as the benchmark for the comparison study on the solving performance of the proposed DD-MSAC algorithm. We conducted 30 times simulation run under different network scales in our numerical examples to show that the DD-MSAC algorithm can be equally effective as the non-data-driven MSAC algorithm in finding a nondominated solution as the average error does not exceed 5%. Meanwhile, we analyze the impact of different data-driven approaches, including data pool and support vector machine, on the solution quality and the running time. Finally, we use an example of China’s Belt Road Initiative to verify the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm.

Examining Turkey's Relations with Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan from a Foreign Policy Perspective in the Post-Soviet Period within the Context of the Belt-Road Initiative

Bu çalışma, Orta Asya – Kafkasya ülkelerinin Sovyetler Birliği’nin dağılmasından sonraki süreçte Türkiye ile ilişkilerini incelemek hedefiyle yazılmıştır. İkili ilişkilerin çok boyutluluğu kurumların faaliyetleri ve yeni girişimler üzerinden aktarılmaya çalışılacaktır. Bu nedenle Kazakistan ve Azerbaycan örnekleri üzerinden gidilerek, Rusya Federasyonu’nun bu iki ülke üzerindeki etkisi ve bu ülkelerin Türkiye ile coğrafi yakınlığının ikili ilişkilerin gelişmesine etkisi konuları üzerinden bir dış politika analizi yapılma hedefi ile ilerlenecektir. Ayrıca Türkiye’nin 1991-2000 yılları arasında izlediği dış politika üzerinden birtakım tahliller de yapılacak, devamında ise özellikle 2000 yılı ve sonrasında kurulan oluşumlar ile ulaşım ve alt yapı gelişmelerinin ilişkilere etkisi incelenecektir.

China's Strategic Concept With Belt Road Initiative Attributes Through Control of African And Indo-Pacific Region

China's Strategic Concept With Belt Road Initiative Attributes Through Control of African And Indo-Pacific Region

The United States and Sino-Pak Strategic Imperatives in Afghanistan

Afghanistan is geo-politically significant; despite two decade long imbroglio and foreign occupation it has been a ground for major powers to establish their influences and to counter their rivals. It is a hub having proximity to the South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. Inside Afghanistan the interests of the United States, China and Pakistan converges and diverges on multiple grounds but for all the interests the peace and stability inside Afghanistan is crucial. The research piece investigates strategic interests of Pakistan, China and the United States in Afghanistan and also finds out grounds where these three countries cooperate for the peace and stability of Afghanistan and the region. This research is conducted through mixed method design by using both qualitative and quantitative methods in order to investigate strategic interests of Pakistan, China and the United States inside Afghanistan. These three countries have some diverging interests but rational approach made them cooperate. Accordingly, the grounds of convergence are counter-terrorism, curbing violent extremism and cooperation for economic connectivity and regional relations which are rational choices for players in order to secure win-win situation. Peaceful and stable Afghanistan is the only way for access and utilization of natural resources and for the feasibility of significant economic projects like CASA-1000, China Pakistan Economic Cooperation and Belt Road Initiative.

Varieties of institutional systems, the belt-road initiative, and the patterned investment flows

Although the Belt-Road initiative (BRI), as a ‘model’ government initiative, has attracted great attention from both academia and industry, one central question related to the location choice of Chinese investment remains under-researched. Our study is motivated to reveal how institutional configurations of BRI participant countries that lead to a high volume of Chinese outward investment vary with the BRI. Utilizing the varieties of institutional systems (VIS) framework, we compare two Waves (2008–2013 and 2014–2019) of Chinese outward investment flows into 120 BRI participant countries. Using institutional elements—the roles of the state, financial markets, human capital, social trust, and corporate governance—as a holistic lens, some intriguing findings of patterned Chinese outward investment are observed. Instead of a single best form of institutional environment, various combinations of institutional arrangements are equally effective, but they differ subtly before and after the BRI in attracting Chinese outward investment. Four prototypes of institutional configurations of BRI participant countries are identified, including configurations with compatible institutional settings, institutional voids, ‘idealistic’ VIS conditions, and emerging institutional elements. Corresponding propositions are proposed for future theoretical advancement.

Impact of China’s Belt & Road Initiative (BRI) on Foreign Institutional Investment: Winners and Losers among Pakistani Publicly Listed Firms

ABSTRACT We investigate the impact of China’s BRI on foreign institutional investment in Pakistani public firms. The question of interest is whether the BRI attracted foreign institutional investment in Pakistani firms in the presence of low government transparency about the BRI. We find that, on average, Pakistani public firms did not experience significant growth in foreign institutional investment between the pre- and post-BRI periods. However, we find that foreign institutional investment increased for Pakistani firms affiliated with business groups relative to non-affiliated Pakistani firms between the pre- and post-BRI periods. We note that the results become stronger with higher levels of groups diversification. Our finding of increased institutional investment for affiliated Pakistani firms also holds relative to matched Indian affiliated firms. These findings suggest that foreign institutional investors prefer business groups in emerging economies as a source of opportunity to overcome the institutional voids problem.

The Sustainable Development and Economic Impact of China's Belt and Road Initiative in Ethiopia.

The purpose of this research is to assess the economic growth and sustainable development of Ethiopia. To what extent does the Chinese investment contribute to the overall economic development of Ethiopia after the Belt Road Initiative (BRI)? What are the main focus areas for development in the region and how does the BRI initiative connect people in the country? This research examines the development process through the use of a case study and discursive analysis to know the result of the investigation. The study is deeply elaborated and the technique adds analytical and qualitative methods. Furthermore, this research attempts to highlight the key approaches and concepts of Chinese engagement in Ethiopia as it attains development in several sectors through the BRI. The BRI is successfully pioneering transport systems, roads, railways, small industries, automotive sectors, and health development programs in Ethiopia. As result, the Chinese investments bring changes to the country after the successful launch of the BRI. Furthermore, the study concludes that there is a need to initiate numerous projects to improve human, social, and economic life in Ethiopia because the country is suffering from many internal problems and China has to work to eradicate recurring problems in the country. As an external actor, the role of China gains importance in Ethiopia in the context of the New Silk Road economic engagement in the African Continent.

Great Potential, Many Pitfalls Understanding China's Belt and Road Initiative

Bijan Omrani, Editor of the Journal Asian Affairs critically evaluates the potential as well the pitfalls of the Belt Road Initiative (BRI) trade and infrastructure project by exploring some related themes. This edited book is divided into seven chapters, each contributed by a different author. These chapters were presented at a joint conference of the Royal Society for Asian Affairs and the Woodrow Wilson Centre. The editor has brought together these chapters for the sake of an advancedclarity on the subject. The primary data sources comprise of national and international statistics, such as the World Bank Databank, as well as governmental documents made public, including the Pentagon report.

One Belt One Road Initiative of China: Geographical balance of power, Implications and Consequences

The One Belt One Road plan is a significant endeavor that unites people around the world and opens various opportunities for peaceful coexistence. Considering the implications of the One Belt One Road strategy on future global growth is the primary goal of this study. On the foundation of corporate, economical, governmental, societal, and cultural influences, it also assesses the OBOR projects' genesis, approach, prospects, and problems. The objectives of this study were established utilizing a qualitative methodology and secondary data, explicitly research articles, scientific papers, several government papers, publications, media articles, newspaper columns, and numerous websites found on the internet. This paper makes the case that these measures will have positive both political and economic effects on allied nations and organizations. It works with to interface individuals through street ways, aviation routes and streams, planning arrangements of different legislatures, monetary joining through cross line business, efficiency and provincial energy security. This concentrate additionally breaks down dangers and difficulties related to OBOR initiative execution. It recommends areas of strength for that amidst associates of Belt and Road Initiative is important to help full products of Belt Road Initiative via steady regulation, arrangement, suitable methodology execution, straightforward acquirement structure, true conception on social, monetary, natural and political variables.