Belt Road Initiative
The China-led Belt Road Initiative (BRI) is an ambitious plan for infrastructure development and regional integration across at least 68 countries in Asia, Africa, and Europe. The BRI has enormous potential to revitalize ancient trade routes and create new ones in a manner that can raise the standard of living for billions of people in a manner that is low carbon and socially inclusive. Such an ambitious undertaking is not without risk however, and poses economic, social, and environmental risks for Chinese and other investors, host country governments and communities, and for the world economy at large. The GDP Center’s work on the BRI generates numerous analyses, data and mapping tools for policy makers, civil society, and the private sector can understand the benefits and risks of the BRI and work to shape the BRI in a manner that maximizes the social and environmental benefits for all parties.
Latest News and Publications
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Chart of the Week: Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank and Belt and Road Initiative Membership in Latin America
June 09, 2021By Bridgette Lang Though 2020 was a year of economic contraction around the world, it was also a year of continued growth and enlargement for the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) in Latin America. [ More ]
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Testimony Before the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission: China in Latin America and the Caribbean
May 20, 2021Editor's Note: The following is a testimony delivered by Dr. Rebecca Ray to the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission hearing on China in Latin American and the Caribbean on May 20, 2021. To Chairs Bartholomew and Scissors, to the Commission, [ More ]
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The New Coal Champion of the World: The Political Economy of Chinese Overseas Development Finance for Coal-Fired Power Plants
May 17, 2021Why have China's two policy banks with global operations, the China Development Bank and the Export-Import Bank of China, globalized their overseas development finance for coal-fired power plants, while leading development finance institutions elsewhere have pulled back from coal and... [ More ]
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Chinese Lending to Africa Slowed in 2019, But Don’t Rule Out a Revival
April 12, 2021By Kevin Acker Chinese loans have become an important source of infrastructure finance for African countries over the past two decades, with Chinese financiers committing approximately $153 billion to African governments and state-owned enterprises between 2000 and 2019. The COVID-19 crisis... [ More ]
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An Empirical Analysis of the Environmental Performance of China’s Overseas Coal Plants
March 30, 2021China's ongoing commitment to overseas infrastructure investment through the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) has ignited concern over environmental impacts. The BRI's environmental impacts will be determined by China's decisions not only on what kinds of projects to fund, but... [ More ]