10 years of China’s Belt & Road Initiative

The Belt and Road Initiative, launched in 2013 by President Xi Jinping, is China's ambitious project to finance and build infrastructure globally. The third Belt and Road Forum, held in Beijing in October, marked a significant milestone, celebrating ten years of this the BRI.

This week's episode dives into the BRI's evolution over the last ten years where we take a closer look at BRI's as a tool of China's foreign policy, its impacts in the Global South, and its ongoing recalibration.  

In the first segment, Dr. Chong Ja Ian provides insights on BRI's strategic significance for China and its far-reaching implications in South and Southeast Asia.

The second segment highlights the BRI's impact in Africa, where Dr. Isaac Odoom speaks on the BRI's role in bridging the infrastructure gap in African nations along with its debt sustainability problem. 

Note: The figure at 39:03 is supposed to be $170 billion. “The African Development Bank estimates that Africa will need $170 billion a year to fill its infrastructure gap”.

Guests:
Dr. Chong Ja Ian is an associate professor of political science at the National University of Singapore and a nonresident scholar at Carnegie China, Dr. Chong’s research includes U.S.-China relations, Chinese foreign policy, and international relations in the Asia-Pacific. Dr. Chong is the author of the book External Intervention and the Politics of State Formation: China, Indonesia, Thailand, He is the recipient of the 2013 International Security Studies Section Book Award from the International Studies Association. He has been published in outlets such as China Quarterly, European Journal of International Relations, and Pacific Affairs, and is an editor of AcademiaSG, which seeks to promote Singapore-related research.

Dr. Isaac Odoom is an Assistant Professor of Political Science specializing in International Relations and the Politics of Development in the Global South with a focus on Africa. He is also a Non-Resident Fellow at The Centre for Asian Studies, University of Ghana, Accra; and was a Visiting Researcher at the Institute of West Asian and African Studies, Beijing, China. Dr. Odoom’s research primary focuses on African Politics, Africa-China relations, China’s foreign policy,, and the Political Economy of Development in the Global South. His work has been published in leading journals such as Third World Quarterly, Journal of Asian and African Studies, African Review of Economics and Finance.

Producers:

Raagini Singh Panwar — Junior Producer

Ayesha Ali — Executive Producer