The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), also known as One Belt One Road (OBOR), is a global infrastructure development strategy adopted by the Chinese government in 2013 to invest in more than 150 countries and international organizations in Asia, Europe, Africa, and the Middle East. The initiative aims to improve connectivity and cooperation on a transcontinental scale by constructing a unified large market and making full use of both international and domestic markets, through cultural exchange and integration, to enhance mutual understanding and trust of member nations, resulting in an innovative pattern of capital inflows, talent pools, and technology databases. The Belt and Road Initiative addresses an "infrastructure gap" and thus has the potential to accelerate economic growth across the Asia Pacific, Africa, and Central and Eastern Europe.
The Belt and Road Initiative is about improving the physical infrastructure through land corridors that roughly equate to the old Silk Road. The Silk Road Economic ‘Belt’ element refers to plans for a revitalized series of ancient overland trading routes connecting Europe and Asia to be built largely with Chinese expertise, while the Maritime Silk Road refers to the Indo-Pacific sea routes through Southeast Asia to South Asia, the Middle East, and Africa. Examples of Belt and Road Initiative infrastructure investments include ports, skyscrapers, railroads, roads, bridges, airports, dams, coal-fired power stations, and railroad tunnels.
The Belt and Road Initiative is believed by some analysts to be a way to extend Chinese economic and political influence. Some geopolitical analysts have couched the Belt and Road Initiative in the context of Halford Mackinders heartland theory. The initiative is also seen as a crucial element in the Chinese government’s efforts to stimulate economies of the country’s central provinces, which historically lag behind richer coastal areas.
In summary, the Belt and Road Initiative is a massive China-led infrastructure project that aims to stretch around the globe, connecting Asia, Europe, Africa, and the Middle East through physical infrastructure. It is an effort to develop an expanded, interdependent market for China, grow China’s economic and political power, and create the right conditions for China to build a high technology economy.
