Back
About RSIS
Introduction
Building the Foundations
Welcome Message
Board of Governors
Staff Profiles
Executive Deputy Chairman’s Office
Dean’s Office
Management
Distinguished Fellows
Faculty and Research
Associate Research Fellows, Senior Analysts and Research Analysts
Visiting Fellows
Adjunct Fellows
Administrative Staff
Honours and Awards for RSIS Staff and Students
RSIS Endowment Fund
Endowed Professorships
Career Opportunities
Getting to RSIS
Research
Research Centres
Centre for Multilateralism Studies (CMS)
Centre for Non-Traditional Security Studies (NTS Centre)
Centre of Excellence for National Security
Institute of Defence and Strategic Studies (IDSS)
International Centre for Political Violence and Terrorism Research (ICPVTR)
Research Programmes
National Security Studies Programme (NSSP)
Social Cohesion Research Programme (SCRP)
Studies in Inter-Religious Relations in Plural Societies (SRP) Programme
Other Research
Future Issues and Technology Cluster
Research@RSIS
Science and Technology Studies Programme (STSP) (2017-2020)
Graduate Education
Graduate Programmes Office
Exchange Partners and Programmes
How to Apply
Financial Assistance
Meet the Admissions Team: Information Sessions and other events
RSIS Alumni
Outreach
Global Networks
About Global Networks
RSIS Alumni
Executive Education
About Executive Education
SRP Executive Programme
Terrorism Analyst Training Course (TATC)
International Programmes
About International Programmes
Asia-Pacific Programme for Senior Military Officers (APPSMO)
Asia-Pacific Programme for Senior National Security Officers (APPSNO)
International Conference on Cohesive Societies (ICCS)
International Strategy Forum-Asia (ISF-Asia)
Publications
RSIS Publications
Annual Reviews
Books
Bulletins and Newsletters
RSIS Commentary Series
Counter Terrorist Trends and Analyses
Commemorative / Event Reports
Future Issues
IDSS Papers
Interreligious Relations
Monographs
NTS Insight
Policy Reports
Working Papers
External Publications
Authored Books
Journal Articles
Edited Books
Chapters in Edited Books
Policy Reports
Working Papers
Op-Eds
Glossary of Abbreviations
Policy-relevant Articles Given RSIS Award
RSIS Publications for the Year
External Publications for the Year
Media
Cohesive Societies
Sustainable Security
Other Resource Pages
News Releases
Speeches
Video/Audio Channel
External Podcasts
Events
Contact Us
S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies Think Tank and Graduate School Ponder The Improbable Since 1966
Nanyang Technological University Nanyang Technological University
  • About RSIS
      IntroductionBuilding the FoundationsWelcome MessageBoard of GovernorsHonours and Awards for RSIS Staff and StudentsRSIS Endowment FundEndowed ProfessorshipsCareer OpportunitiesGetting to RSIS
      Staff ProfilesExecutive Deputy Chairman’s OfficeDean’s OfficeManagementDistinguished FellowsFaculty and ResearchAssociate Research Fellows, Senior Analysts and Research AnalystsVisiting FellowsAdjunct FellowsAdministrative Staff
  • Research
      Research CentresCentre for Multilateralism Studies (CMS)Centre for Non-Traditional Security Studies (NTS Centre)Centre of Excellence for National SecurityInstitute of Defence and Strategic Studies (IDSS)International Centre for Political Violence and Terrorism Research (ICPVTR)
      Research ProgrammesNational Security Studies Programme (NSSP)Social Cohesion Research Programme (SCRP)Studies in Inter-Religious Relations in Plural Societies (SRP) Programme
      Other ResearchFuture Issues and Technology ClusterResearch@RSISScience and Technology Studies Programme (STSP) (2017-2020)
  • Graduate Education
      Graduate Programmes OfficeExchange Partners and ProgrammesHow to ApplyFinancial AssistanceMeet the Admissions Team: Information Sessions and other eventsRSIS Alumni
  • Outreach
      Global NetworksAbout Global NetworksRSIS Alumni
      Executive EducationAbout Executive EducationSRP Executive ProgrammeTerrorism Analyst Training Course (TATC)
      International ProgrammesAbout International ProgrammesAsia-Pacific Programme for Senior Military Officers (APPSMO)Asia-Pacific Programme for Senior National Security Officers (APPSNO)International Conference on Cohesive Societies (ICCS)International Strategy Forum-Asia (ISF-Asia)
  • Publications
      RSIS PublicationsAnnual ReviewsBooksBulletins and NewslettersRSIS Commentary SeriesCounter Terrorist Trends and AnalysesCommemorative / Event ReportsFuture IssuesIDSS PapersInterreligious RelationsMonographsNTS InsightPolicy ReportsWorking Papers
      External PublicationsAuthored BooksJournal ArticlesEdited BooksChapters in Edited BooksPolicy ReportsWorking PapersOp-Eds
      Glossary of AbbreviationsPolicy-relevant Articles Given RSIS AwardRSIS Publications for the YearExternal Publications for the Year
  • Media
      Cohesive SocietiesSustainable SecurityOther Resource PagesNews ReleasesSpeechesVideo/Audio ChannelExternal Podcasts
  • Events
  • Contact Us
    • Connect with Us

      rsis.ntu
      rsis_ntu
      rsisntu
      rsisvideocast
      school/rsis-ntu
      rsis.sg
      rsissg
      RSIS
      RSS
      Subscribe to RSIS Publications
      Subscribe to RSIS Events

      Getting to RSIS

      Nanyang Technological University
      Block S4, Level B3,
      50 Nanyang Avenue,
      Singapore 639798

      Click here for direction to RSIS

      Get in Touch

    Connect
    Search
    • RSIS
    • Publication
    • RSIS Publications
    • CO17096 | China’s Belt and Road Forum: What Now?
    • Annual Reviews
    • Books
    • Bulletins and Newsletters
    • RSIS Commentary Series
    • Counter Terrorist Trends and Analyses
    • Commemorative / Event Reports
    • Future Issues
    • IDSS Papers
    • Interreligious Relations
    • Monographs
    • NTS Insight
    • Policy Reports
    • Working Papers

    CO17096 | China’s Belt and Road Forum: What Now?
    Xue Gong

    17 May 2017

    download pdf

    Synopsis

    President Xi Jinping has put on a grand show of China’ vision for global connectivity through the recent Belt and Road Forum in Beijing. What remains to be done is for China to overcome the hard reality of operational inefficiencies.

    Commentary

    ON 14-15 May 2017, China held a grand forum to burnish its international leadership credentials under the well-known but little-understood Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), formerly known as One Belt, One Road. The Forum consisted of an opening ceremony, a round-table leaders’ summit and a high-level conference with six parallel themes on eight areas including infrastructure, and industry investment for cooperation.

    The Forum has provided Chinese leader Xi Jinping a stage to demonstrate China’s role in connecting with the world, while much of the West is looking inward, especially with United States President Donald Trump withdrawing from the Trans-Pacific Partnership and announcing his “America First” posture to the rest of the world.

    What the Forum Has Achieved

    The Forum has clearly shown that the BRI, which had begun under Xi’s predecessors with hardly any concrete accomplishments, can serve as an integrative platform for global connectivity. The Forum also reaffirmed China’s and the participating countries’ commitment to an open economy, inclusive trade and opposition to all forms of protectionism. One major implication of the Forum would be the economic power and influence accruing to China when the BRI’s objectives are fully realised.

    The official name is ambitiously crafted as the “Vision and Action Plan of Jointly Building Silk Road Economic Belt and 21st-Century Maritime Silk Road”. It outlines five major goals of the BRI: policy coordination, facilities connectivity, unimpeded trade, financial integration and people-to-people bonding. The Forum presented these five carefully choreographed parallel conferences with an additional theme: intellectual exchanges among think-tanks.

    China claimed that the BRI has made several accomplishments. Firstly, greater consensus needed for stronger policy coordination has been achieved with the presence of 130 countries and 70 international organisations. In this regard, China scored a public relations coup with the unexpected participation of delegates from the United States, Japan, South Korea and North Korea.

    Secondly, more cooperative areas have been identified though the Forum. Outsiders gained a better understanding of the BRI and the potential cooperation, going forward. Besides infrastructure investment and trade cooperation, outsiders realised that the BRI also included the setting up of free trade zones, cooperation on ecological civilisation, and the development of technology and innovation.

    The Forum produced 32 trade and financial agreements with countries and international organisations involved in the BRI. For these projects, China is expected to further internationalise the Chinese currency and improve financing channels. China will also turn to syndicated loans coming from international pension funds, insurance companies, sovereign wealth funds, private equity funds and others.

    However, doubts on the sustainability of Chinese funding remains. In fact, the most frequently asked questions were: How can these projects remain commercially viable? How much will China pay?

    Before or After BRI?

    Thirdly, concrete achievements are concentrated largely in facilities connectivity, especially in infrastructure projects. China claimed, producing impressive supporting data, that many projects in the BRI were successfully implemented. But a number of these projects actually began operations before the BRI was first introduced in September 2013. For example, one of the listed projects on the official website of Belt and Road Portal, the Sino-Myanmar natural gas pipeline, began operations in July 2013.

    Nevertheless, there is some concrete progress. For example, at the Forum, China Development Bank signed the loan agreement valued at US$ 4.5 billion with China Railway Construction Corporation (Indonesia) for financing the Jakarta-Bandung high-speed railway project.

    Although the connectivity goal of ‘people-to-people bonding’ was emphasised before the Forum, it was less visible in its actual implementation. Owing to the fact that people from these countries are generally wary about the negative impact of massive Chinese investments, the Forum also included people-to-people and think-tank exchanges to improve interpersonal interaction along the Belt and Road route.

    Nonetheless, it remains to be seen how the Chinese companies, managers and workers engage with the local communities where the BRI projects touch. After all, it is not the government but the business actors who will be implementing the Belt and Road projects.

    What Now?

    After the Forum, China will establish communication mechanisms to enhance capacity building with the International Monetary Fund (IMF). China will also work on economic development research and multilateral development cooperation with different banks.

    Meanwhile, China aims to engage civil society organisations and promote the BRI via media, music and education. Again, the Forum is consolidating what China has been doing for the past decade. The only difference is that the BRI has provided the vision and direction.

    It is too early to predict whether China will be able to fully realise its noble intentions made known at the grand gala. Most of the Belt and Road projects face obstacles as the spectrum of the Initiative is too vast, and many of the existing infrastructure projects are still loosely tied together.

    President Xi announced RMB60 billion (US$8.7 billion) worth of aid to New Silk Road participating countries and other foreign assistances during the Forum. With expectations raised, many developing countries may demand more aid to cooperate with China in future.

    Creating the vision for global connectivity requires evidence of concrete accomplishments at the grand gala as people interpret achievements in different ways. Xi’s signature economic diplomacy for the BRI has officially taken off. What remains to be done is for China to overcome the hard reality of operational inefficiencies.

    About the Author

    Xue Gong is a Senior Analyst with China Programme at S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS), Nanyang Technological University, Singapore.

    Categories: RSIS Commentary Series / Country and Region Studies / International Political Economy / International Politics and Security / East Asia and Asia Pacific

    Synopsis

    President Xi Jinping has put on a grand show of China’ vision for global connectivity through the recent Belt and Road Forum in Beijing. What remains to be done is for China to overcome the hard reality of operational inefficiencies.

    Commentary

    ON 14-15 May 2017, China held a grand forum to burnish its international leadership credentials under the well-known but little-understood Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), formerly known as One Belt, One Road. The Forum consisted of an opening ceremony, a round-table leaders’ summit and a high-level conference with six parallel themes on eight areas including infrastructure, and industry investment for cooperation.

    The Forum has provided Chinese leader Xi Jinping a stage to demonstrate China’s role in connecting with the world, while much of the West is looking inward, especially with United States President Donald Trump withdrawing from the Trans-Pacific Partnership and announcing his “America First” posture to the rest of the world.

    What the Forum Has Achieved

    The Forum has clearly shown that the BRI, which had begun under Xi’s predecessors with hardly any concrete accomplishments, can serve as an integrative platform for global connectivity. The Forum also reaffirmed China’s and the participating countries’ commitment to an open economy, inclusive trade and opposition to all forms of protectionism. One major implication of the Forum would be the economic power and influence accruing to China when the BRI’s objectives are fully realised.

    The official name is ambitiously crafted as the “Vision and Action Plan of Jointly Building Silk Road Economic Belt and 21st-Century Maritime Silk Road”. It outlines five major goals of the BRI: policy coordination, facilities connectivity, unimpeded trade, financial integration and people-to-people bonding. The Forum presented these five carefully choreographed parallel conferences with an additional theme: intellectual exchanges among think-tanks.

    China claimed that the BRI has made several accomplishments. Firstly, greater consensus needed for stronger policy coordination has been achieved with the presence of 130 countries and 70 international organisations. In this regard, China scored a public relations coup with the unexpected participation of delegates from the United States, Japan, South Korea and North Korea.

    Secondly, more cooperative areas have been identified though the Forum. Outsiders gained a better understanding of the BRI and the potential cooperation, going forward. Besides infrastructure investment and trade cooperation, outsiders realised that the BRI also included the setting up of free trade zones, cooperation on ecological civilisation, and the development of technology and innovation.

    The Forum produced 32 trade and financial agreements with countries and international organisations involved in the BRI. For these projects, China is expected to further internationalise the Chinese currency and improve financing channels. China will also turn to syndicated loans coming from international pension funds, insurance companies, sovereign wealth funds, private equity funds and others.

    However, doubts on the sustainability of Chinese funding remains. In fact, the most frequently asked questions were: How can these projects remain commercially viable? How much will China pay?

    Before or After BRI?

    Thirdly, concrete achievements are concentrated largely in facilities connectivity, especially in infrastructure projects. China claimed, producing impressive supporting data, that many projects in the BRI were successfully implemented. But a number of these projects actually began operations before the BRI was first introduced in September 2013. For example, one of the listed projects on the official website of Belt and Road Portal, the Sino-Myanmar natural gas pipeline, began operations in July 2013.

    Nevertheless, there is some concrete progress. For example, at the Forum, China Development Bank signed the loan agreement valued at US$ 4.5 billion with China Railway Construction Corporation (Indonesia) for financing the Jakarta-Bandung high-speed railway project.

    Although the connectivity goal of ‘people-to-people bonding’ was emphasised before the Forum, it was less visible in its actual implementation. Owing to the fact that people from these countries are generally wary about the negative impact of massive Chinese investments, the Forum also included people-to-people and think-tank exchanges to improve interpersonal interaction along the Belt and Road route.

    Nonetheless, it remains to be seen how the Chinese companies, managers and workers engage with the local communities where the BRI projects touch. After all, it is not the government but the business actors who will be implementing the Belt and Road projects.

    What Now?

    After the Forum, China will establish communication mechanisms to enhance capacity building with the International Monetary Fund (IMF). China will also work on economic development research and multilateral development cooperation with different banks.

    Meanwhile, China aims to engage civil society organisations and promote the BRI via media, music and education. Again, the Forum is consolidating what China has been doing for the past decade. The only difference is that the BRI has provided the vision and direction.

    It is too early to predict whether China will be able to fully realise its noble intentions made known at the grand gala. Most of the Belt and Road projects face obstacles as the spectrum of the Initiative is too vast, and many of the existing infrastructure projects are still loosely tied together.

    President Xi announced RMB60 billion (US$8.7 billion) worth of aid to New Silk Road participating countries and other foreign assistances during the Forum. With expectations raised, many developing countries may demand more aid to cooperate with China in future.

    Creating the vision for global connectivity requires evidence of concrete accomplishments at the grand gala as people interpret achievements in different ways. Xi’s signature economic diplomacy for the BRI has officially taken off. What remains to be done is for China to overcome the hard reality of operational inefficiencies.

    About the Author

    Xue Gong is a Senior Analyst with China Programme at S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS), Nanyang Technological University, Singapore.

    Categories: RSIS Commentary Series / Country and Region Studies / International Political Economy / International Politics and Security

    Popular Links

    About RSISResearch ProgrammesGraduate EducationPublicationsEventsAdmissionsCareersVideo/Audio ChannelRSIS Intranet

    Connect with Us

    rsis.ntu
    rsis_ntu
    rsisntu
    rsisvideocast
    school/rsis-ntu
    rsis.sg
    rsissg
    RSIS
    RSS
    Subscribe to RSIS Publications
    Subscribe to RSIS Events

    Getting to RSIS

    Nanyang Technological University
    Block S4, Level B3,
    50 Nanyang Avenue,
    Singapore 639798

    Click here for direction to RSIS

    Get in Touch

      Copyright © S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies. All rights reserved.
      Privacy Statement / Terms of Use
      Help us improve

        Rate your experience with this website
        123456
        Not satisfiedVery satisfied
        What did you like?
        0/255 characters
        What can be improved?
        0/255 characters
        Your email
        Please enter a valid email.
        Thank you for your feedback.
        This site uses cookies to offer you a better browsing experience. By continuing, you are agreeing to the use of cookies on your device as described in our privacy policy. Learn more
        OK
        Latest Book
        more info