🔅🔅 One Belt One Road Initiative 🔅🔅
One Belt One Road is considered as the most ambitious foreign policy and economic initiative of Chinese President Xi Jinping. It was announced in 2013 with an objective to rejuvenate the ancient trade routes connecting Asia and Europe and hence it is also known as Silk Road Economic Belt. OBOR is a network of roads, railways, oil pipelines, power grids, ports and other infrastructural projects meant to connect China to the world. This initiative comprises more than physical connections. It aims to create the world’s largest platform for economic cooperation including policy coordination, trade and financing collaboration and social and structural cooperation.
The OBOR is bifurcated into two parts- The Silk Road Economic Belt which is land-based and will connect China with Central Asia, Eastern and Western Europe and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road which is sea-based and will connect China to South-East Asia, Africa and Central Asia. The main objective of China through OBOR is to develop international clout by expanding its influence, boost its slow GDP by boosting trade through OBOR, fix the regional growth disparities between North and South China and boost Yuan’s usage amongst the countries and strengthen its role as an international currency. Although OBOR may prove beneficial to developing countries and could also boost their GDP, we should not be too optimistic about its success, as Chinese investments had let to political backlashes in the past. And it is unsure whether poor countries will be able to benefit from greater trade as they already run a huge trade deficit with China.
One Belt One Road is considered as the most ambitious foreign policy and economic initiative of Chinese President Xi Jinping. It was announced in 2013 with an objective to rejuvenate the ancient trade routes connecting Asia and Europe and hence it is also known as Silk Road Economic Belt. OBOR is a network of roads, railways, oil pipelines, power grids, ports and other infrastructural projects meant to connect China to the world. This initiative comprises more than physical connections. It aims to create the world’s largest platform for economic cooperation including policy coordination, trade and financing collaboration and social and structural cooperation.
The OBOR is bifurcated into two parts- The Silk Road Economic Belt which is land-based and will connect China with Central Asia, Eastern and Western Europe and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road which is sea-based and will connect China to South-East Asia, Africa and Central Asia. The main objective of China through OBOR is to develop international clout by expanding its influence, boost its slow GDP by boosting trade through OBOR, fix the regional growth disparities between North and South China and boost Yuan’s usage amongst the countries and strengthen its role as an international currency. Although OBOR may prove beneficial to developing countries and could also boost their GDP, we should not be too optimistic about its success, as Chinese investments had let to political backlashes in the past. And it is unsure whether poor countries will be able to benefit from greater trade as they already run a huge trade deficit with China.
