BRI Projects Research Articles

The Effect of China on ASEAN: The BRI Projects in Myanmar

This article focuses on China's gaining favourable approaches in ASEAN as a result of its investment in BRI projects within ASEAN countries. The study tries to explain both how China-Myanmar bilateral relations have developed and how Myanmar's position in ASEAN can be a possible "ally" of China by addressing China's BRI projects in Myanmar. The article focused on some of China's unfinished BRI projects, especially in Myanmar, and touched upon China's geostrategic goals through Myanmar. ASEAN's economic dependence on China and the need to maintain China's economic and political dominance in the Southeast Asian region make BRI projects both an economic lifeline and an endless interdependence for both parties. The US-China tension in the region and China's growing military capacity lead ASEAN countries to follow the "hedging strategy". However, due to countries such as Myanmar and Cambodia that have close economic and political relations with China, it remains unclear what position ASEAN will take in the future.

American Engagement with Nepal: Concerns of China and India


 How did the United States of America’s active engagement with Nepal become a strategic concern for our neighbors? The USA’s Nepal policy is changing because the new world order appears to be multipolar consonantly; it is believed to be bipolar between the United States and China strategically. The US strategic entry into Nepal and the intense rivalry over the MCC and BRI projects are a reflection of these two countries' growing competition in world politics. It put Nepal at the center of strategic calculations. At the other end, China and India believe that achieving regional and global hegemony requires first establishing their own regional supremacy. That is why they are considering strategic space in South Asia and Nepal. Furthermore, India and U.S. also have strategic alliances in the Indo-Pacific strategic and QUAD. Both of them perceive China as a threat in the Indo-Pacific region. In this tri-lateral rivalry during the global power transition, Nepal may become a geopolitical flash point, serving the strategic interests of those powers. In this scenario, the significance of Nepal's nonalignment foreign policy will be examined through a comparison of Ukraine's and Nepal's geopolitical locations. Nepal shares borders with two Asian behemoths, much like Ukraine does with NATO countries and Russia. The Ukrainian crisis stems from both domestic and foreign policy failures. Politicians are frequently divided into pro-Russian and pro-Western sides, and they fail to recognize their powerful neighbor's sensitivity. In this study, the qualitative method has been used, and secondary data was collected from reliable books, journal articles, and some authentic websites. Explorative research techniques have been used for this research.

A conceptual reappraisal of risks in the implementation of BRI after COVID‐19: Best strategies to learn for CMNEs in BRI projects

AbstractThis study is aimed to propose a quantitatively supported framework regarding different types of risks involved in BRI and strategic solutions to neutralize the risks. The conceptual model and related propositions are advanced, based on bibliometric and science mapping analysis of 367 articles published over 6 years about risk, success, failure and dissent about the projects, and strategies to mitigate these risks. The descriptive statistics and science mapping approaches using co‐citation analysis were performed with VOSviewer software. A co‐citation analysis, coupled with content analysis of most co‐cited articles, uncovered four underlying research streams, including “Infrastructural expansion and political & economical risks,” “Investment choice through impact assessment and cultural risks,” “Environmental risks,” and “Real outcomes of BRI projects and viewpoint of host countries.” Among the four strategies identified, developing trust in the Chinese system can be created through National Branding by Chinese MNEs to mitigate the geo‐political risks. Second, Guanxi neutralizes the reputation risks and cultural friction in collaborative projects and positively affects BRI project implementation. Third, the localization of management and processes can also help in offsetting the environmental risks in post COVID scenario. Lastly, increasing multilateral funding for sustainable infrastructure can be used to boost financial capacity building and mitigate financial risk to a certain extent. The present study has been a novel attempt to relate current research themes to emerging areas under BRI. This study is one of its kind which focuses on reshaping the views of practitioners, researchers, and policymakers on the multifaceted areas and themes in the BRI research field, to examine the risks and a roadmap for future research.

ECONOMIC COOPERATION ORGANIZATION (ECO) AS A REGIONAL ORGANIZATION: ROLE, HURDLES AND PROSPECTS

In world politics, regionalism and regional organization have become important elements. Regional organizations, as opposed to international organizations, are created by independent states based on their geopolitical, geographical proximity, economic, or political ties in order to promote socio-economic development and regional integrity. Using a qualitative methodology and secondary data sources, this research attempts to shed light on the fundamental justifications for the creation of Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) as a regional organization; its economic and socio-cultural practices; interstate rivalry among its members; divisions, and difficulties; ECO’s role and prospects in the current political unpredictability of the world; solutions to current problems and techniques for fostering regionalism in ECO, and the organization’s prospects for the future. Additionally, it assesses ECO’s regional integration considering integration theory and shows whether ECO has been effective in fostering regional cohesion. In light of this, this paper contends that the ECO region has not received enough attention from the vast majority of academics despite having enormous human and natural resource potential and it also implies that in the long run, the ECO region might provide the EU, ASEAN, and other developing countries with a steady supply of energy markets that in turn can play a positive role for the development of the region. The ECO region may also represent a sizable market for the export of technology and equipment by a number of sophisticated economies. The paper concludes the BRI project and the Indo-Pacific Strategy have greatly raised the ECO’s geostrategic significance.

China’s Presence, Priority Interests and Actual Image in Central Asia

This article is devoted to highlighting the priority interests of the People’s Republic of China in Central Asia, its policy in the region, and the image that is being formed during the implementation of this policy. As a significant geostrategic region, Central Asia is of particular importance to China. Therefore, China has been strengthening ties with the Central Asian states, notably in the last decade, and is proving itself with new projects in the region. China places particular emphasis on Central Asia in its One Belt One Road (Belt and Road Initiative – BRI), its component Silk Road Economic Belt giant project, and considers Central Asia as a strategically relevant region in the execution of this project. It is with the announcement of the BRI project that China’s activity in the region has further increased. China is attempting to pursue its interests in Central Asia, but this is not going to be straightforward for Beijing. A number of factors are hindering China from carrying out its interests in Central Asia and deepening relations with the states in the region.

Implications of the war in Ukraine on the Belt and Road Initiative

The war in Ukraine will have broad implications for the European region and the world as a whole. It has already changed the intricate balance in the world order influencing great power competition rendering some geostrategic priorities obsolete while reinforcing others. The biggest geo-economic project of the People’s Republic of China (PRC): the Belt and Road (BRI) initiative, will be no exception. The transport and energy flows of BRI will be disrupted due to the new Iron Curtain descending across Europe in the form of sanctions against aggressors in the war in Ukraine. To balance this in the short term, the PRC will have to reroute much of its BRI cargo and projects into other corridors. In the long term, the PRC will attempt to divert Russian resources from the West to itself within the BRI framework, thus rendering western sanctions ineffective and assuring the longterm success of the BRI.

Motives behind Sino-Japanese strategic alliances in the new energy vehicles sector in the age of the Belt and Road Initiative

ABSTRACT Several Chinese companies have emerged as global competitors in the non-traditional automotive industry and have become attractive partners for foreign firms in high-technology development. To identify the motives behind such strategic partnerships in the new energy vehicle industry, we combine dynamic capabilities with institutional factors of both national and emerging regional levels generated by the Belt and Road Initiative. Case studies of BYD, SinoHytec, Hino, and Toyota’s joint ventures reveal that besides pursuing complementary technology, firms are being pushed into NEV production by government policies targeting carbon neutrality while strategic alliances with Chinese companies may yield facilitated access to BRI projects.

Reconciling different approaches to conceptualizing the glocalization of the Belt and Road Initiative projects

ABSTRACT In response to the recently rising number of academic papers that empirically examine local variances in China’s Belt and Initiative (BRI) projects in various foreign lands, this paper points out the tension between attempts to theorize BRI projects. The Sino-localized approach and the assemblage theory were the two main attempts used by scholars from disparate academic disciplines to conceptualize local agency and to understand how local conditionalities, practices, and norms may affect the outcome of BRI projects. We need to examine their differences and similarities, and determine whether they are really irreconcilable. In addition, how their ontological differences lead to epistemological, methodological and analytical differences in studying BRI projects should be clarified as well.

The Belt and Road Initiative and international business policy: A kaleidoscopic perspective

In this editorial, we take stock of the nature and scope of China’s global development strategy named the “Belt and Road Initiative” (BRI), and how it influences international business (IB) policy. We build on the state of the current IB literature on the BRI and the findings of the Special Issue articles to suggest the need for complex integrative thinking on the initiative. We show that the BRI – like a kaleidoscope – elicits vastly different patterns of opportunities and challenges as we turn the perspective from policymakers in China, to governments in BRI host countries, and to officials in third countries. We illustrate how the application of integrative thinking to these perspectives allows for the identification when BRI projects generate tensions between countries and how this influences their IB policies. We further discuss under which circumstances BRI projects may benefit all sides and which IB policies can help promote these types of projects. We conclude with a discussion of future research directions.

China’s Belt and Road Initiative and Agricultural Development in Southeast Asia

This paper discusses how China’s “Belt and Road Initiative” (BRI) can shed light on the issue of urbanization and agricultural development in Southeast Asia. The BRI is often understood to mean infrastructure projects, such as the building of high-speed railways and modern ports. This inter-pretation does not fully take into account the potential economic prospects between China and the BRI-participating countries. By revisiting Harvard-trained Economist Chang Pei-kang’s pioneering theory on Agriculture and Industrialization, we argue that agriculture rather than urbanization needs to be considered as the foundation for sustainable economic development in Southeast Asia. Advancements in agricultural development through BRI projects will improve not only the livelihoods of rural farmers in Southeast Asia, but also our global ecosystems. Turning the focus to agriculture can assist Southeast Asian countries in exploring their own development paths and avoiding repeated setbacks from fresh financial and global crises.

Tripartite tourism trade cooperation through the belt and road initiative

"Silk Road Economic Belt" and the "21st Century Maritime Silk Road" are part of China's multi-level, and complex network to revive the ancient Silk Road and reconnect countries along with it and others. Today, the tourism industry plays a prominent role to improve the economic growth and welfare of countries and it has an outstanding impact on global transformation, integration, and cultural reforms. BRI is not just a transport network but also contains cultural, and political aspects and emphasis on friendship, peace, cooperation, and mutual understanding and benefit. China seriously peruses tourism trade since 2015 under the BRI by offering “the Building of an Integrated Tourism Market along the Silk Road”. China and Iran two ancient Asian countries with extremely numerous historical and cultural treasures in their hearts, along with the newly independent Republic of Kazakhstan -with economic and security advantages-, can implement large-scale economic-cultural programs in the framework of the BRI project, in the term of Tourism Industry. This article aims to examine Tripartite Tourism Trade Cooperation between Iran, Kazakhstan, and China through the Belt and Road Initiative, Despite all economic and political constraints, enormous sanctions against Iran. More specifically Iran, along with Kazakhstan, could overcome a bunch of these substantial problems and expand their cooperation in the shadow of BRI, with the support of China.

The Development of China’s Economic Cooperation in the Horn of Africa: Special Reference to the Belt and Road Initiative

The study deals with China’s trade and Economic cooperation in the Horn of Africa. This research aims to focus on infrastructural development in the region under China’s Belt and Road Initiative framework. Further, the central purpose of this research is to discuss Chinese investment in Ethiopia, Eritrea, Djibouti, Kenya and Somalia. The research uses a qualitative analysis approach to discuss the research problems and tries to find out core findings. The following question deals with this study, how does China expand its trade and investment in the Horn of Africa? To what extent has China developed ties with the Horn of African countries in the context of BRI projects? As a result, China has developed a strong stance in the Horn of Africa in the context of trade and investment. This study concludes that China has enormous challenges within these countries to manage interstate issues for security purposes that are necessary for the success of infrastructure development and other BRI-related projects.

Expected levels of sectoral economic integration: Implications of the BRI project for resource-rich countries

Expected levels of sectoral economic integration: Implications of the BRI project for resource-rich countries

SERBIA'S APPROACH TO CHINA'S SILK ROAD: OPPORTUNITIES AND RISKS

When China introduced the strategy for the new Silk Road in 2013, it had once again affirmed its position as a global leader and defined future direction in its foreign policy and economic development. As one of the most ambitious projects ever, once fully implemented, the new Silk Road will connect markets in Asia, Middle East, Africa and Europe, strengthen cooperation between countries and boost international trade flows.This paper analyzes the importance of the new Silk Road for economies along its corridors, аs well as the impact on Serbia’s economic development. It examines China’s investment model in Serbia, sectors with the largest volume of investment and the potential risks that developing countries could face through the implementation of BRI projects. The review also evaluates the attractiveness of the Serbian market and its role in the BRI vision in the Western Balkans. Preliminary research indicates that investments from China in recent years have had a positive impact on Serbia’s economic development. It is anticipated that further enhancement of investment relations between Serbia and China may have a wider impact not only on the realization of BRI goals in Serbia, but also in Europe, considering Serbia’s geographical position and the potential to bring Chinese companies closer to the EU market.

The Balance of Infrastructure in the Indo‐Pacific: BRI, Institutional Balancing, and Quad’s Policy Choices

AbstractThis paper examines how the Quad countries, Australia, India, Japan, and the United States, have countervailed China’s Belt and Road Initiative in the Indo‐Pacific through various institutional efforts both individually and collectively. It argues that the existing approach of offering an alternative to China’s BRI will hardly be successful. Although the 2020 COVID‐19 pandemic has weakened China’s financial and economic capacities in sustaining and expanding its BRI projects, it is unlikely that China will give up the BRI under Xi Jinping’s leadership. This, however, creates an opportunity for the Quad countries to weigh in on the future BRI in the post‐COVID era. These Quad countries could consider employing an ‘inclusive institutional balancing’ strategy to constrain, change, and shape China’s BRI behaviour from the inside. Inclusive institutional balancing will be also a viable strategy for recipient countries to maximize their economic interests in the balance‐of‐infrastructure game among great powers in the Indo‐Pacific in the post‐COVID era.

Role of Kazakhstan in a Belt and Road Initiative project

The idea of the New Silk Road project (also Belt and Road Initiative – BRI) was first pitched in 2013 by the President of the People's Republic of China (PRC) Xi Jinping. This project contains the Silk Road Economic Belt as well as the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road. The main goal of this project is the creation a modern transport infrastructure in Eurasia, in order to optimize shipping of goods between Asia and Europe. Since then, this project was in an active development that involves building and optimization of the transport infrastructure, integration of the project into the economy of the involved countries, signing agreements and deals between the countries and also improving the relationship between PRC and countries-participants of this project. Because this project is considered global and international for Eurasia, Kazakhstan views it as an important for the political and economical state of the country. The geographic position of the country makes it one of the most important participants of the project. This factor makes it important to identify other reasons behind this idea of Kazakhstan being an important destination of economical investment of PRC. Other important objectives are role and involvement of Kazakhstan in the development of the BRI project. This article reviews the Belt and Road Initiative project, how Kazakhstan is involved in this project and its role in it in the economical, political and logistical areas. The results of the implementation of the project is also present in this article.

China's Economic Statecraft: The Role of the Belt and Road Initiative

Purpose: The research aims to examine China's economic activities around the world from the broad perspective of the country's economic security. The authors begin with explaining the concept of economic statecraft and then deal with the analysis of the Chinese overseas economic expansion. Design/Methodology/Approach: The main tools used to achieve the objectives mentioned above include a literature analysis, logical reasoning and statistical research. Findings: The last decades have revealed a new pattern in global economic cooperation. The Belt and Road Initiative turned out to be a successful instrument supporting China's economic growth and deepening international economic cooperation and interdependence. The BRI project allows China not only to secure access to supplies and markets but also strengthen its soft power and gives the possibility to build a powerful network of interconnected countries, independent from the Western powers, willingly cooperating with China in every field. Practical Implications: The research results are helpful to realise the extend and importance of the Belt and Road Initiative in China's economic statecraft and indicate potential fields for future international cooperation under the BRI. As close economic cooperation under the BRI can have significant consequences for China and all countries covered by this project, all partners have to be aware of the complexity of their involvement in this initiative and the pros and cons of such interdependence. Originality/Value: The Belt and Road Initiative is a novel form of broad international cooperation. Thus it deserves special attention and research. The research concerns an economic dimension of the Belt and Road Initiative and provides a comprehensive analysis of China's worldwide economic expansion.

Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Belt and Road Initiative

This article analyzes the implementation of the Belt and Road Initiative in Central Asian countries during the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2020, the whole world has to develop in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition, downfall in economic growth a recession in the global economy, which led to a slowdown and recession in economic growth, suspension of production, closure of borders, and it was China that was the first to face this problem. All this negatively affected the projects of the One Belt, One Road initiative. The purpose of the study was to identify how the COVID-19 pandemic influenced the Belt and Road Initiative and what measures China has taken to preserve BRI projects, and how the Health Silk Road project has become a lifeline for China. It also discusses why OBOR projects in Central Asia are strategically important for China. The article presents an analysis of the economic, social and political problem of the initiative during the COVID-19 pandemic. The article shows the results of the survey analysis, indicating that the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the initiative is short-term. The practical significance of the study lies in the fact that at the moment there are so many studies examining the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Belt and Road Initiative in Central Asia and this article will supplement the literature. Key words: Belt and Road Initiative, China, COVID-19 pandemic, Central Asia.

Dilemma of National Narrative The Case for Building Domestic and Regional Narratives for CPEC

Building a national narrative on CPEC is appearing to be a daunting task for the government of Pakistan. Such a dilemma does not characterize Pakistan alone, but troubling policy issue peculiar to the BRI project as a whole. The Chinese-led mega projects have preyed on rival narratives since its initiation in 2013. Since the region is characterized by regional rivalries and interests of the major powers, it is plausible that such an ambitious project like BRI in general and particularly CPEC will continue to face the dilemma of narratives. To place the discussion in perspective, the paper is sectionalized into three parts. The first part theorizes narratives, it why, by who, for what, and whom. With the theoretical premise, the second part argues that Pakistan needs to strategize its CPEC narratives on two levels. Domestically, it requires a very cautious approach to define the national or state narrative. In the presence of multiple sub-nationalities, at the provincial level and relatively weaker broader national sentiment, it is crucial to develop a consensus with caution. At the external level, a regional narrative might be built with the help of like-minded states and by employing a strategy to bring most of the regional powers into the project of CPEC. The paper concludes that building narratives requires a joint effort by the ruling elite (political and intellectual), civil society, and media at the domestic level and also imperative for Pakistan to adopt a counter-narrative strategy through diplomatic channels, to generate mutually acceptable trans-regional counter-narratives against the propagandist agenda, bent at tarnishing CPEC.

BATTLE FOR SUPERMACY IN ASIA PACIFIC

Asia Pacific region is one of the prominent region for the global powers due to its strategic importance as the major trading routes. Japan, India, Australia, China, and South Korea and ASEAN holds the prominent position in the region. The researchers in the article discussed about the competition between the Washington and its allies with the growing power/influence of Beijing in the region. Beijing’s influence not only confined to the east of Asia but it stretched further in west under the BRI and CPEC projects as well as also with recent agreement with Tehran. The researchers have discussed the importance of China in the region as a major competitor and a balancer to the Washington power. The region is now one of the major centres of the battle for supremacy between the two major competitors Washington and Beijing. The researchers have discussed the policies carried by both the power centres in the region to gain the superiority in the region.