CHINA

ANALYSIS

"ONE BELT, ONE ROAD":

CHINA'S GREAT LEAP
OUTWARD

ABOUT

The Chinese have long been obsessed

with strategic culture, power balances and
geopolitical shifts. Academic institutions,
think tanks, journals and web-based debates
are growing in number and quality and give
Chinas foreign policy breadth and depth.

China Analysis, which is published in both

French and English, introduces European
audiences to these debates inside Chinas
expert and think-tank world and helps the
European policy community understand how
Chinas leadership thinks about domestic
and foreign policy issues. While freedom
of expression and information remain
restricted in Chinas media, these published
sources and debates provide an important
way of understanding emerging trends
within China.
Each issue of China Analysis focuses on a
specific theme and draws mainly on Chinese
mainland sources. However, it also monitors
content in Chinese-language publications
from Hong Kong and Taiwan, which
occasionally include news and analysis that
is not published in the mainland and reflects
the diversity of Chinese thinking.

June 2015

The French version of China Analysis can be

accessed online at www.centreasia.eu.

Introduction
by Franois Godement
China has created an action plan for its Silk Road concept
in the form of the One Belt, One Road (OBOR) initiative.
It is grandiose, potentially involving an area that covers
55 percent of world GNP, 70 percent of global population,
and 75 percent of known energy reserves. Chinas financial
commitments to the project seem huge: some multilateral
and bilateral pledges may overlap, but it is still likely we are
looking at up to $300 billion in infrastructure financing from
China in the coming years1 not counting the leveraging
effect on private investors and lenders, and the impact of
peer competition. Japan, for example, has just announced
a $110 billion infrastructure fund for Asia, and the Asian
Development Bank is hurriedly revising its disbursement
rules to increase its lending capacity. This does not even
include the grand bargain being discussed with Russia on
overland transport, energy, and cyber-connectivity.
However, concrete details are scarce, especially at the
bilateral level, where potential partners seem to supply more
information than can be found in published Chinese sources.
Implementation may span a very long time period as much
as 35 years, according to some of our sources, reaching
1 Note that this figure does not include the $890 billion of public
investment recently announced by China Development Bank, one
of China's policy banks. See: He Yini, " China to invest $900b in
Belt and Road Initiative", China Daily, 28 May 2015. Available
at: http://usa.chinadaily.com.cn/business/2015-05/28/content_20845687.htm.

CHINA ANALYSIS

completion in time for the 100th anniversary of the Peoples

Republic of China in 2049.
This is also a geopolitical and diplomatic offensive; Xi
Jinping talked first of a community of destiny among
Asians, and our sources offer reassurance that China is
seeking to supplement the existing international order
rather than to revise it. But money also talks, and a strategy
largely based on loans and aid is building Chinas financial
power, in addition to the trade power it already possesses.
The worlds great expectations further increase the
audience for what the Chinese sometimes describe as
the countrys second opening, after the 1979 model
which led to Chinas rapid growth over three decades. For
example, there is much discussion of the success beyond
all expectations of the China-founded Asian Infrastructure
Investment Bank (AIIB). Intense debate is being carried
out about the Silk Roads in countries that have reason to
worry about some of their implications.
China also risks overreaching itself, and there is much
uncertainty about the process. Our Chinese sources keep
returning to some caveats: this is a concept based on giving,
in terms of finances and in terms of leadership. China faces
the possibility of losing money or stirring up opposition.
The competition among potential Chinese actors now
including everybody up to Chinas maritime coast could
provoke a blind development (mengmu fazhan) very
much along the lines of events in Chinas past. It could also
happen that the aggregated projects shift some of Chinas
main trends of recent decades. Emphasising the westward
continental overture represents a return to the late 1950s,
when Mao rebalanced growth away from the coast with
massive investments inland. The project also extends
abroad the western development policy of the past decade.
Is this a viable strategy, considering the obvious integration
of coastal China in the global economy? Can geopolitical
action trump economic interdependence, or will it drag
down Chinas overall competitiveness?

June 2015

Much of Chinas logic on the project is based on geopolitics

and on the export of its huge infrastructure-building
capacities. But even within China, these sectors are leading
loss-makers. Geographical and geopolitical conditions differ
widely outside China, especially along the continental routes.
There is a debate about whether it is wise to pour such huge
amounts into low-return projects and high-risk countries. Will
this turn out to be a repeat of old mistakes, with overreliance
on public financing and state-owned enterprises? Can China
leverage private firms and investment in its grandiose plans?
The answers are as yet unclear.

For the time being, however, no partner can ignore Chinas

throwweight and its track record in building massive
infrastructure. Europe itself is also setting up a 315 billion
infrastructure investment plan that is contingent on market
financing. How it will manage to leverage Chinas capital

export drive for European growth is another interesting

question and perhaps a more important issue than that of
a European minority stake in the AIIB.

1. Chinas second opening: Grand ambitions

but a long road ahead
David Cohen
Sources:
Chu Yin, Realisation of One Belt, One Road Strategy
Requires More Careful Consideration, Aisixiang, 1
January 2015.2
Huang Yiping, Dont Let One Belt, One Road Fall into
the Trap of Japans Overseas Investments, Zhongguo
Gaige Wang, 10 February 2015.3
Jia Qingguo, One Belt, One Road: Urgent Clarifications
and Discussions of a Few Major Questions, Renmin
Luntan, 19 March 2015.4
Wang Yanchun, Silk Road Innovation, Caijing, 23
March 2014.5
Zheng Xie, One Belt, One Road is not Chinas Marshall
Plan, Huanqiu Wang, 17 November 2014.6

Chinese President Xi Jinpings recent tour of Kazakhstan,

Russia, and Belarus gave him an opportunity to talk up
his Silk Road Economic Belt (SREB) initiative. Xi signed
trade deals in Almaty, Moscow, and Minsk, including an
agreement to coordinate the SREB initiative with Russias
Eurasian Union project.

Development and Reform Commission, and the Ministry of

Commerce. This plan sets out a vision in which Chinese-led
infrastructure construction, reduced tariffs, and simplified
customs administration would allow trade to flow seamlessly
between China and Europe by both rail and cargo ship.7 The
action plan takes in every conceivable goal, from improving
distributed supply chains to developing trade in services to
increasing food security for the countries that participate in
the project. In short, it is a statement of ambitions, which
likely encompasses the priorities and pet projects of many
dozens of bureaucratic actors. And Beijing has put its money
where its mouth is. It has committed a total of about $100
billion to a trio of new infrastructure funds: $40 billion to
the Central Asia-focused Silk Road Fund, $50 billion to a
new Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), and $10
billion to the BRICS-led New Development Bank.8
The authors selected here describe the OBOR as a key
element of a "new round of opening to the world" (
, xin yi lun duiwai kaifang), a phrase used
by Xi Jinping to describe his economic strategy.9 Its
goal, Jia Qingguo writes, should be to promote Chinas
economic upgrading and rebalancing through such
opening. However, the idea is still at the planning stage.
It will take years to come to fruition and will face many
serious challenges along the way. At this stage, even major
elements of the plan appear to be up for debate, and the
authors covered here appear to have taken advantage of
this situation to push their own policy priorities under the
banner of a new strategic slogan.

The SREB is aimed at facilitating land-based trade across

the Eurasian landmass, and the concept has dominated The authors agree that China should not expect to replace
Chinas relations with Central Asia ever since Xi proposed the established international trading system. A Global
it in September 2013. Its sister project, the 21st Century Times editorial published under the pseudonym of Zheng
Maritime Silk Road, is oriented towards the Association Xie focuses on rebutting the claims of Western outlets,
of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). Together, these two which have described the programme as Chinas Marshall
projects are now usually talked about as part of Chinas Plan. Huang Yiping and Chu Yin discuss the limits of
global economic strategy known as the One Belt, One Road Chinas capabilities, warning that the project could be
initiative (, yidai yilu, hereafter OBOR). The derailed by ham-fisted great power diplomacy, inattention
initiatives are elements of a regional economic strategy that to political risk, or excessive central planning. Despite
also includes the planned China-Pakistan and Bangladesh- the considerable economic upside for all participants,
Huang writes, One Belt, One Road is a good international
China-India-Myanmar Economic Corridors.
economic strategy, but for now it is certainly not an easy
On 28 March, an action plan was jointly released by three one. (
agencies: the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the National , yidaiyilu shi yige haode
guoji jingji cele, danshi zai muqian de qingkuang xia yao
xiang qude chenggong quebu rongyi).
2 Chu Yin is an associate professor of international relations at
Tsinghua University, Beijing.

3 Huang Yiping is a professor of economics at Peking University's

National School of Development and at Australia National Universitys Crawford School of Economics and Government. He was
Chief Asia Economist at Citigroup from 2000 to 2009, and held a
similar position at Barclay's.
4 Jia Qingguo is a member of the Standing Committee of the
CPPCC and dean of the University of international relations at
Beijing University.
5 Wang Yanchun is a journalist for Caijing.
6 This article is attributed to Zheng Xie, an observer of international affairs. Zheng Xie (), the name of a Song dynasty poet,
appears to be a pseudonym.

7 For the English version of the Action plan, see: Vision and
Actions on Jointly Building Silk Road Economic Belt and 21st
Century Maritime Silk Road, National Development and Reform
Commission, 28 March 2015, available at: http://en.ndrc.gov.cn/
newsrelease/201503/t20150330_669367.html.
8 For more information on the AIIB, see Agatha Kratzs article in
this issue.
9 Xi Jinping notably used the phrase during a Politburo study
session. See: Xi Jinping, "Accelerating the implementation of
a free-trade zone strategy, accelerating the construction of a
new economic model based on openness", Xinhua, 6 Decembre
2014. Available at: http://news.xinhuanet.com/politics/201412/06/c_1113546075.htm.

CHINA ANALYSIS

Better planning needed

A recent report from Renmin University, described by the
Xinhua News Agency as the first think tank report on the
projects, confirms both the scale of the projects ambition
and the limits of current planning.10 The report says that the
Silk Road projects will connect countries that represent 55
percent of world GNP, 70 percent of global population, and
75 percent of known energy reserves. China is to launch five
years of strategic planning next year, with implementation
expected to begin in 2021. The report estimates that the Silk
Road projects will be fully realised in about 35 years, in 2049,
the 100th anniversary of the foundation of the Peoples
Republic of China. Likewise, a Ministry of Commerce official
interviewed by Caijing talks in terms of the new 30 years (
30, xin 30 nian), a reference that puts todays China on
the threshold of a third
era comparable to those
Huang writes: "One Belt,
begun by Mao Zedong
One Road is a good inand Deng Xiaoping.

ternational economic
strategy, but for now it
is certainly not an easy
one".

Jia Qingguo writes that,

great as the projects
potential may be, China
should not succumb to
wishful thinking (, yixiangqingyuan). The OBOR
is a strategic vision, but if it is to succeed, it will need a clear
plan. Solutions will have to be found to the problems of
harsh terrain, political instability, and geopolitical threats.
Planners should also come to an agreement about the goals
of the strategy: for now, he says, there are many different
understandings of the strategy not only among academics,
but also within government.
Huang Yiping says the OBOR represents a sea change in
Chinas international profile. Chinas rise has put an end to
the period of low-profile diplomacy that corresponded to
Deng Xiaopings advice to hide your capabilities and bide
your time (, taoguangyanghui). With the OBOR,
China as a new great power is trying to supplement the
international economic order(
, Zhongguo zuo wei yige xinxing
daguo shitu dui guoji jingji zhixu zuochu buchong). Huang
says that China is playing a more active role, in line with
United States President Barack Obamas demand that China
take on more responsibility for providing international
public goods. Another reason is to redress the limited role
given to developing countries in international institutions.

June 2015

Supplement, not challenge

The Renmin University report cautions that because of

zero-sum thinking (, lingheboyi
shi de jiedu), the Silk Road projects have been met with
scepticism within Chinas immediate neighbourhood as well
10 Li Jinlei, Report: Silk Road Economic Belt May Be Divided
Into Three Phases; Initial Completion Predicted in 2049, Zhongguo Xinwen Wang, 28 June 2014.

as resistance from outside powers. However, it notes that the

main regional powers recognise the benefits of Chinas plan.
The Global Times, characteristically, rejects any
suggestion of competition as slander, intimating that
the rumours originate with US, which wants to discredit
China. In contrast to the Marshall Plan, which aimed to
control Western European nations and to contain the
Soviet Union, Chinas OBOR is not an alliance and comes
with no political strings attached.
However, Huang warns that some Chinese scholars want
to pursue a strategic confrontation with the US, which,
in his opinion, would be foolhardy. He says that some
scholars of international relations believe the Asia-Pacific
region is already divided between a China-Russia axis and
a US-Japan axis. They view both the OBOR and the USs
Trans-Pacific Partnership as moves in a zero-sum game.
But Huang points out that China is still a middle-income
country and has no guarantee that rapid growth will
continue. The fate of the Soviet Union demonstrates what
can happen to countries that throw their weight around
without a firm economic base, while Japans current
economic situation shows that export-fuelled wealth does
not last forever. To avoid ending up in either situation, the
Chinese government should stick to the goal of a peaceful
rise (, heping jueqi). It should treat other Asian
countries as equals and should even welcome US and
Japanese participation in Chinas new institutions.
Jia says that regional powers, too, are wary of Chinas rise.
China must avoid the perception that it is challenging
Russias position in Central Asia, while many of the target
countries for the Maritime Silk Road project are currently
involved in territorial disputes with China, which may
make them reluctant to cooperate. In order to overcome
this scepticism, China should use its growing strength to
persuade its neighbours to shelve disputes and pursue
joint development (, , gezhi zhengyi,
gongtong kaifa).
Chu focuses on political risk, cautioning China not to
take smaller countries for granted. The Sinocentric world
of the Tang Dynasty is fondly remembered in China, but
other countries may not find the message of the Silk
Road appealing. Chu says: Although we are a righteous
country, free of Western imperialism, colonialism, and
racism, we and the OBOR countries are absolutely not
equals (

, jinguan women shi renyi

zhi bang, zai chuli guoji guanxi shang jiongranbutong
yu xifang baquan biaoxian chulai de zhiminzhuyi yu
zhongminzhuyi, dan Zhongguo yu yidaiyilu shang de
guojia bingbu shi pingdeng de). Chinese planners have
frequently failed to consider local and regional politics,
which has exposed projects to political risk both from
local opposition parties and from competing regional

powers. Chu says recent events in Thailand and Myanmar

show that political instability is a major risk. The electoral
defeat of a Beijing-friendly government in Sri Lanka could
also disrupt the construction of a key port there since, in
contrast to the US during the Marshall Plan, China does
not have the luxury of militarily occupying the countries in
which it invests. On a regional level, India, the US, Russia,
and Japan are all important players in OBOR countries
and could use their power to block Chinas plans.

when the west was a hinterland to the developing and

relatively open east. Now, He says, the most promising
opportunities are in the Arab countries, Central Asia, and
Russia. For the next 30 years, Chinas development story
will be focused on the west.

Rebalancing at home
The OBOR is an international strategy, but its success, Jia
writes, will be measured by its effects on Chinas domestic
economic rebalancing. China will send out its own capital,
technology, and management experience, and will promote
the development and prosperity of neighbouring countries.
In so doing, the country will encourage its own economic
transformation and make itself the centre of the regional
economy. So as to ensure that investment is allocated
efficiently and state assets are protected, private capital
should take the lead in this strategy.
Huang stresses the danger of over-emphasising state
planning and infrastructure construction, as do the
experts interviewed by Wang Yanchun in Caijing. Huang
writes that, should the Chinese government take on too
much of the project, it would be at risk of repeating on an
international scale the errors made in the development of
Chinas west. Despite massive infrastructure investment in
the western regions of the country over the past 20 years,
they have made little progress aside from the development
driven by natural resource extraction. Huang says: When
the central government offers a free lunch to localities, they
stop worrying about economic returns (

, zhongyang zhengfu
touzi, dui difang laishuo xiangdang yu mianfei wucan,
wulun shi touzi juece haishi xiangmu shishi, jingji huibao
dou bushi zhongdian kaolu de yinsu). Huang says that the
government should take a limited role in developing the
OBOR infrastructure projects and should delegate most
investment decisions to host countries and to the market.
An Jianglin, an expert from the Gansu Academic of Social
Sciences interviewed by Wang Yanchun in Caijing, raises
the issue of blind investment (, mangmu touzi).
An warns that many areas have roads, for example, but
there are no cars on them. The governments role is to
coordinate policies, rules, and regulations to facilitate trade,
not to prescribe the development of particular industries
and regions. Unlike Dengs era of reform and opening, this
one will depend on local innovation, not on investments
flowing from planning authorities in Beijing.
In the same article, He Zhengrong, director of the Ningxia
Department of Commerce, describes the Silk Road as a
geographic reversal of the era of Reform and Opening,

CHINA ANALYSIS

2. Rebalancing Chinas geopolitics

Antoine Bondaz
Sources:
Foreign Minister Wang Yi answers journalists question
on China's diplomacy, foreign policy and foreign
relations, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 8 March 2015.11
Editorial, The One Belt, One Road initiative is different
from the Marshall Plan, Huanqiu Shibao, 3 March 2015.
Zhang Yesui, The One Belt, One Road initiative is not a
geopolitical tool, Speech at China Development Forum,
Xinhua, 21 March 2015.12
Wang Jisi, Marching towards the West, China's
geopolitical strategy of rebalancing, Huanqiu Shibao,
17 October 2012.13
Li Mingjie How to play the One Belt, One Road
symphony well, Liaowang Outlook, 24 March 2015.14
Wang Yiwei, How to deal with geopolitical risks during
the implementation of the One Belt One Road, Gongshi
Wang, 29 April 2015.15
Zheng Yongnian, The One Belt, One Road strategy
helps the world economy rebalance, Lianhe Zaobao
Oriental Morning Post, 8 January 2015.16
Su Hao, One Belt, One Road Global foundation of
the concept of a new type of great powers, Shenzhen
Shangbao Shenzhen Economic Daily, 15 April 2015.17

Power transition theory and the Thucydides trap say

that rising powers, like China, elicit opposition from
their neighbours and from dominant powers, like the
United States, causing tensions to grow and increasing
11 Full text available at: http://www.fmprc.gov.cn/mfa_chn/
wjb_602314/wjbz_602318/zyjhs/t1243647.shtml.
12 Zhang Yesui is Chinas executive vice-minister of foreign
affairs. He is a former ambassador to the United Nations (20082009) and to the United States (2009-2012).
13 Wang Jisi is professor and dean of the School of International
Studies at Peking University. His article, published in 2012, was
the first to advocate the implementation of the Silk Roads it was
published about a year before the official presentation of the Silk
Road projects.
14 Li Mingjie is a journalist at the state-run magazine Liaowang.
The term symphony (, jiaoxiangyue) directly refers to
the musical metaphor used by Wang Yi during his press conference on 8 March, when he stated that the OBOR was not China's
solo, but a symphony performed by all relevant countries (
, bu shi
zhongfang yijia de duzouqu, er shi geguo gongtong canyu de
jiaoxiangyue).

June 2015

15 Wang Yiwei is professor of international relations at Renmin

University, director of the Institute of International Affairs and of
the Research Center on the European Union.

16 Zheng Yongnian is head of the East Asia Research Institute of

the National University of Singapore and a lifelong professor at
the University of Nottingham.
17 Su Hao is professor at the Department of Diplomacy of China
Foreign Affairs University.

the likelihood of war.18 China is well aware of this trap. Its

official stance is to reassure its neighbours and to try to
present China as a new type of rising power (,
xinxing daguo). So, discussions about the One Belt, One
Road initiative (, yidai yilu, hereafter OBOR)
aim to present China as a non-threatening and nonrevisionist rising power, dissimilar to others in the past. The
authors here never present OBOR as a response to the US
rebalancing strategy in the Asia-Pacific region; instead, they
speak of it as a tool in Chinas strategy of non-confrontation
and reassurance. The OBOR, as presented in Chinese media,
seems like a concrete implementation of the concept of the
peaceful rise (, heping jueqi), an idea coined more
than ten years ago by Zheng Bijian.
China is a new type of rising power
In his annual address to the press in March, Chinas
Foreign Minister Wang Yi said that the OBOR was not a
tool of geopolitics (, diyuanzhengzhi de
gongju). In a nod to Western critics fears about Chinas
real intentions, he said the project should not be viewed
through an out-dated Cold War mentality. Chinas
vice foreign minister, Zhang Yesui, echoed this message
of reassurance at the China Development Forum later
in March. He presented China as a satisfied power, fully
integrated into the international system. Zhang said
that Chinas OBOR is not directed against any specific
country or organisation (,
bu zhendui renhe guojia huo teding zuzhi) but is a useful
complement (, youyi buchong) to existing
international and regional institutions.
This official position has since been repeated in the Chinese
press. In an editorial published in Huanqiu Shibao, China
is presented as a country that has learnt from history and
intends to break the pattern of the rise of great powers,
creating a new precedent of peaceful rise. China refuses
traditional geopolitical confrontation (
, chuantong diyuanzhengzhi duikang), does not strive
for hegemony (, zhengba), and does not cheat and
does not threaten (, , bu qizha, bu weixie)
its neighbours. Instead, China is committed to peace, and
the implementation of the OBOR is the evidence of this
commitment.
Su Hao has a similar analysis. Su says that regional powers
are concerned about Chinas rise because, historically, a
country that grows more powerful tends to bully (,
qifu) others. However, the world has entered a new period:
China today is a giver, not a taker (
, bu shi suoqu, er shi jiyu), and it aims to help poorer
countries in its neighbourhood to develop.

18 Graham Allison, Thucydides's trap has been sprung in the Pacific, Financial Times, 21 August 2012, available at: http://www.
ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/5d695b5a-ead3-11e1-984b-00144feab49a.
html#axzz3cZGPCmig.

The US and OBOR

implementing the OBOR. He also strongly criticises Japan

for standing at the vanguard (, paitoubing) of US
strategy. However, he stresses that Chinas initiative is an
inclusive model of cooperation that is open to all it is
aimed at building a community of interests and security (
+, liyi+anquan gongtongti) between China
and its neighbours, including both the US and Japan.

Indirectly criticising the US as a traditional power, Chinese

officials and academics repeatedly stress than the OBOR is
not like the Marshall Plan. Wang Yi states that comparing
the OBOR to the Marshall Plan is like comparing apples
and oranges. The OBOR is based on open cooperation (
, kaifang hezuo) which implicitly means that
the Marshall Plan was not. The Huanqiu Shibao editorial Rebalancing the world economy
agrees. The Marshall Plan placed harsh political conditions
on the countries it covered and excluded pro-Soviet During his luncheon address at the China Development
European countries, which led to the division of Europe. Forum, Foreign Minister Wang Yi said that economic
The OBOR initiative, on the other hand, is presented as an imbalances (, fazhan bupingheng) are the
unconditional plan to assist in the development of Chinas root causes of conflict and that China should provide more
neighbours, regardless of
public goods (, gonggong chanpin) to mitigate
their current relationship
them. This argument, playing on the terms imbalances
In general, Chinese
with China. The editorial
and rebalancing, could be interpreted as an indirect
scholars seem very
says that no country is
careful not to directly criticism of the US.
being forced (,
criticise the US in disbeipo) to join Chinas
In general, Chinese scholars seem very careful not to
cussing the OBOR.
initiative, even though
directly criticise the US in discussing the OBOR. Zheng
Chinas neighbours will
Yongnian, based in Singapore, is one of the more outspoken
most probably join because of the attractiveness of the commentators. He says that Western economies, and
initiative. As the engine of global development, China is mainly the US, were responsible for the global economic
aiming to share the benefits of its economic growth.
and political imbalances that led to the global financial
crisis. China should work to rebalance (, zai
Academics such as Wang Yiwei criticise the USs regional pingheng) these imbalances through the OBOR. He argues
strategic encirclement (, zhanle weidu) of China, that the Western model of neoliberalism is in crisis and that
but all the writers insist that the OBOR initiative does not Western countries want China to rescue them. However,
target the US, nor should it be seen as a response to the saving the West would be Chinas biggest strategic mistake
US rebalancing strategy in the Asia-Pacific. As early as (, zuida de zhanle shiwu), as would be
October 2012, Beijing University professor Wang Jisi was focusing only on Western economies in its international
the first Chinese scholar to speak of the need for China strategy. Chinas priority should be to cooperate with
to revitalise three Silk Roads, to Southeast Asia, to South developing countries. Zheng says that China should use
Asia, and to Central Asia. He argued that even though the this rare historical opportunity (,
US was pivoting to the East (, Dongyi), and Russia, qianzainanfeng de lishi jiyu) and take on its responsibilities
India, and the European Union were hoping for the East ( as the largest developing country so as to push for a partial
, Dongwang), China should not limit its strategic vision reform of global governance and international cooperation.
to the Asia-Pacific and should instead march towards the This reform would not be aimed at weakening the US, but
West (, Xijin). At the time, he made two points. First, simply at empowering developing countries.
there is almost no risk of US-China military competition in
the west, because the two countries have a common interest Su Hao also argues that the OBOR is not a response to US
in stability in the region, including in Afghanistan and pressure, but unlike Zheng, he thinks the project should
Pakistan, and because there is huge potential for bilateral be used as a tool in the rapprochement between Asian
cooperation. Secondly, he refused to consider his concept as and European economies. The OBOR could serve as a
a response to the US rebalancing strategy, but rather saw it strategic bridge between two complementary economies,
as a way to geopolitically rebalance [Chinas] thinking ( which should not have to rely on the US for their economic
, diyuan zhanle zai pingheng sikao). growth. Europe, he says, has taken the first step by turning
East (, Ouzhou zhuanshen xiangdong),
In a roundtable organised by Liaowang, Li Ziguo, deputy focusing more and more on Asia for economic reasons, and
director of the One Belt, One Road research centre, also disengaging (, chouli) from the US-Europe alliance.
says that the OBOR is not a response to America's rebalancing Even the United Kingdom, the USs closest ally, has joined
in Asia-Pacific or to Russias Eurasian Union (EEU), but the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) and is
simply a new model of economic cooperation.19 Wang Yiwei starting to distance itself from Washington. In response,
is very critical of the US for trying to prevent China from China is promoting the OBOR to overcome the obstacle of
distance and to connect Europe and Asia.
19 The One Belt, One Road research centre is affiliated to the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs China Institute of International Studies (CIIS).

CHINA ANALYSIS

Reading the Chinese press would have us think that the

OBOR, one of President Xi Jinpings key initiatives, is
aimed only at economic rebalancing and at building
friendly relationships with Chinas neighbourhood, with
no grander geopolitical objective. This low-key tone is
rare, and echoes an article on the AIIB by Wang Jun, in
which he advises China to use the utmost carefulness
in communicating about the AIIB and the Silk Road
projects, to avoid both Chinese populism (
, mincuizhuyi) at home and misunderstanding and
opposition from potential partner countries abroad.20 It
seems that Chinese commentators have taken the hint
Wangs suggested careful and measured messaging seems
to be at work in the articles surveyed here.

3. One Belt, One Road: Whats in it for Chinas

economic players?
Agatha Kratz
Sources:
Wang Yanchun, Reconstructing Chinas trade, Caijing,
2 February 2015.21
Zheng Yongnian, How to make sure the Silk Road does
not remain only a theoretical discussion, Aisixiang, 29
January 2015.22
Jia Qingguo, A number of issues that the OBOR urgently
needs to clarify and prove, Aisixiang, 24 March 2015.23
Anbound, One Belt, One Road is facing increasing
challenges, Caijing Wang (Opinion), 24 March 2015.24
Xu Gao, Looking at the One Belt, One Road strategy
from a return on investment point of view, Financial
Times (Chinese version), 20 November 2014.25

Chinas Silk Road projects are often talked about in terms of

their geopolitical meaning.26 But the projects were originally
conceived of as an economic grand strategy, designed
to meet several growth-enhancing, trade facilitation,
and rebalancing objectives.27 The authors selected here
21 Wang Yanchun is a journalist for Caijing.
22 Zheng Yongnian is head of the East Asia Research Institute of
the National University of Singapore and a lifelong professor at
the University of Nottingham.
23 Jia Qingguo is a member of the Standing Committee of the
CPPCC and dean of the University of international relations at
Beijing University.
24 Founded in 1993, Anbound is a Chinese consulting firm and
think-tank with links to the State Council (www.anbound.com).
25 Xu Gao is chief economist at Guangda Securities and has also
served as an economist for the IMF and the World Bank.

June 2015

26 In this article, the term Silk Road projects comprises all

Chinese projects and initiatives launched or anticipated under the
Silk Road umbrella. Within the Silk Road Projects, the Yidai Yilu
(, ) initiative, also referred to as One Belt, One Road,
seems to be the most important and best publicised one it is at
the core of the official Action plan released on 28 March. However,
other projects have also been envisioned or discussed under the
wider Silk Road theme. This extensive nature of the Silk Road
concept is illustrated by the fact that, while Anbounds Chen Gong
focuses his analysis on the Yidai Yilu initiative, Jia Qingguo states
that there are three roads in the making: one going east, one going
west, one going south. Other articles and discussions over recent
months have alluded to more projects, including for example an
Arctic Silk Road and a Korean Silk Road.

20 Wang Jun, How can the AIIB succeed?, Caixin Zhoukan Caixin Weekly, 6 April 2015, available at: http://weekly.caixin.
com/2015-04-03/100797344.html.

27 In the Action plan for the One Belt, One Road, the financial
crisis and slow economic recovery are cited as the main background determinants for the project. Besides, the project is mainly
described as an economic route and network for economic development and prosperity. For the Action plan text in Chinese, see:
Vision and actions on jointly building the Silk Road Economic Belt
and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, issued by the National
Development and Reform Commission, Ministry of Foreign Affairs,
and Ministry of Commerce of the People's Republic of China, with
State Council authorisation, 28 March 2015, available at: http://
news.xinhuanet.com/world/2015-03/28/c_1114793986.htm.

recognise that the Silk Road plans could benefit Chinas

economy. However, they believe that the project comes
with financial risks, and they fear that old mistakes might
be reproduced in its implementation, with undifferentiated
strategies being applied to very different regions and
situations in Chinas periphery.

says that the Ruyi Groups story illustrates the challenges

facing China, and the need to go abroad in order to offset
the countrys fast-fading trade competitiveness in the
context of highly internationally fragmented value chains.
The Silk Road project and Chinas new opening

Zheng Yongnian also says that Chinas era of high growth is

gone. However, the Silk Road projects could provide China
Caijings reporter, Wang Yanchun, uses recent trade figures with a new opportunity for development. Zheng goes through
to explain the pressing need for China to reconstruct its the usual discussion of mutually beneficial cooperation
trade (, chonggou Zhongguo maoyi). He with neighbouring countries and of sharing Chinas reform
says that all the economies in Asia have entered a new and opening experience to help partner countries promote
development stage. The reorganisation of Asias trade, due to economic development and address economic challenges.
But beyond all that, Zheng
new trade agreements among other factors, is transforming
sees the projects as a
value and trade chains. This has led to a rapid reorganisation
Jia Qingguo says the way to leverage Chinas
of economic structures and flows across Asia, which means
objective of the Silk advantages in finance,
that China must alter its traditional trade patterns.
Road projects should markets, technology, and
be China's economic production capacity in
To be sure, Chinas trade is still growing, but growth must
upgrading, rebalancing less developed markets.
be viewed in the context of the new normal (, xin
and further opening.
The Silk Road plans, he
changtai). Growth in overall trade reached 3.4 percent in
says, could help Chinese
2014, with exports growing by a mere 6.1 percent. Wang
says that, for the third year in a row, Chinas trade objectives companies improve their capacity for transnational
were not achieved in 2014. This weak performance was due operations (, kuaguo yingyun nengli), as
to a number of reasons, including the fact that international well as to establish foreign trade strongholds (
demand is still depressed after the 2008 crisis, but a , haiwai jingmao judian) and production bases (
more important reason is the increased (labour-based) , shengchan jidi). The plans could also help China to deal
competitiveness of Chinas South and Southeast Asian with its severe problem of surplus production capacity, and
neighbours. This has meant that investment in Chinas could revive industries that are less efficient in the domestic
manufacturing sector has dropped and its share of the market. Finally, the plans should promote an orderly going
worlds low-quality manufacturing production has fallen.28 out for Chinese firms, which Zheng calls a pivot abroad (
One seemingly positive consequence is that Chinas non- , duiwai yizhuan).
processing trade is now higher than its processing trade,
which demonstrates Chinas evolution towards a domestic- Jia Qingguo says the objective of the Silk Road projects
driven, higher-quality-focused economic model.29 However, should be Chinas economic upgrading, rebalancing, and
as Ministry of Commerce spokesman Sun Jiwen puts further opening. Jia calls it a new wave of opening (
it: The 30-year era of continuous high growth in trade is , xinyilun duiwai kaifang) unlike in the
gone forever (30 past, when China opened itself up to participation from
, waimao chixu 30 duo nian de gaosu zengzhang shidai outside, attracting foreign investments, technologies, and
management skills, China should now reverse its role by
yiqubufufan le).
itself opening outwards.
Because of these changes, China needs to cultivate
opportunities outside its borders. As an example, Wang The need for differentiation
cites the Ruyi Group (Shandong), which has established
weaving and spinning plants in Pakistan to benefit from Jia recognises the economic rationale for the Silk Road,
low labour costs, but has also acquired stakes in Australian but he is critical of the plans formulation. He says the
and Japan textile manufacturers with the aim of setting up routes three directions (east, west, and south) should be
a truly international value and marketing chain. Today, the much more clearly differentiated. Chinas opening to the
group is involved in Japan, Australia, New Zealand, India, east should be based on promoting economic upgrading
and even the United Kingdom, Germany, and Italy. Wang by taking advantage of East Asias advanced science and
technology economy. To the west and south, Chinas
28 In 2014, FDI to China declined by 40 percent from the US, 22
main objective should be to promote an economic boom
percent from Japan, 10 percent from the European Union, and 24
in neighbouring countries, which would in turn further
percent from ASEAN, compared to 2013. And while in 2000, 40
Chinas
own economic transformation and growth as well
percent of Nikes shoes were made in China, and 13 percent in
as benefit Chinese companies and goods.
Vietnam, in 2013, only 30 percent were made in China, compared
China needs to restructure its trade

to 42 percent in Vietnam.

29 Non-processing trade represented 54 percent of Chinas total

trade in 2014, compared to 43 percent in 2005.

CHINA ANALYSIS

Anbounds commentary also calls for differentiation. It

explains that One Belt, One Road was extended from
the original New Silk Road project (, xin
Sichouzhi Lu), which only concentrated on the western
route. This expansion is a mistake, according to Chen
Gong, Anbounds chief researcher. Chen says that this
diversification will cause Chinas (limited) resources to
be wastefully dispersed over too large a field.30 A better
way would have been to concentrate resources on one
area Western China and Central Asia to stabilise
Xinjiang and promote the development of Chinas less
developed western neighbours. However, Chinas southeastern coastal provinces actively lobbied to be part of the
initiative, leading to the drafting of a second route, which
is to be launched concomitantly.
Chinas competitive advantage along the Maritime Silk
Road is much weaker, but China has decided to engage
significant resources there. Chen Gong says: What China
produces, ASEAN countries also produce, and what China
thinks about developing, ASEAN also wants to develop (

, Zhongguo shengchan de dongxi, Dongmeng ye

shengchan; Zhongguo xiang fazhan de dongxi, Dongmeng
ye yao fazhan). Therefore, the two regions are bound to
compete more intensively, and China will face much greater
difficulties along the Maritime Silk Road than it would have
if it had focused only on the western route.
Demanding returns
Xu Gao shares Anbounds concerns that China is
misallocating its limited resources. Xu looks at the Silk Road
projects from the perspective of return on investment (ROI).
He explains that the projects aim to build infrastructure and
technology in developing countries. But a central question
is whether the projects can bring China sufficient return
on investment, especially since the political and economic
environment in the countries involved is uncertain at best.
Investing in these countries might risk increasing Chinas
debt burden for the sake of limited returns. The author
regrets that this consideration is very rarely taken into
account in discussions on the project.

certain.31 Therefore, developing the Silk Roads carries

significant micro-hazard for China.
From a macro perspective, infrastructure projects could
have an indirect benefit for China. Only part of the
investment would go into China itself, but the infrastructure
built would help link China to its neighbouring countries,
thus easing the pressure on natural and energy resources
and goods transport.
Finally, because the main actors in the projects are
Chinese state-owned enterprises (SOEs), Xu says that the
opportunity cost should actually be negative for China.
Without the investments being made in the projects, the
SOEs would in fact not make use of the excess funds
available to them.
Therefore, the overall ROI of the project is not prohibitively
low. Because of Chinas economic structure (dominated as it
is by SOEs), further investment should actually reduce waste
in the public sector and help to stabilise employment as well
as the economy. And it offers a new investment opportunity
for Chinas huge foreign exchange reserves, which have so
far been heavily invested in low return US bonds.
This centrality of SOEs, however, runs counter to Jian
Qingguos recommendation to make private enterprises the
backbone of the project to leverage their energy, flexibility,
and sensitivity to investment efficiency, and to avoid the
drainage (, liushi) effect of SOEs.
Overall, the economic relevance of the Silk Road is commonly
accepted, but its economic efficiency is open to discussion
and debate. One final comment made by Chen Gong is
that, in the end, the Silk Road projects are a large-scale
reproduction of Chinas unbalanced model of development
over the last ten years: based on public actors and
infrastructure spending, and excessively supply-based. This
goes against the governments desire to put these stimulusbased growth levers aside but perhaps using them outside
of China is more acceptable and less contentious.

June 2015

He undertakes a three-pronged analysis of the project to

determine its potential ROI. From a micro perspective,
the projects seem a bad idea. Infrastructure investment
already represents a quarter of Chinas total investment,
and returns on infrastructure investments are currently
very low in China, often not even covering financial outlay.
This has created the potential for a debt crisis in the
country. Even so, in the Silk Road projects, China plans
to continue investing in infrastructure, both in China
and in countries where returns are even less stable and

10

30 According to Chen, all of the items [of One Belt, One Road]
are basically about spending money (,
jiben shang dou shi huajian de xiangmu).

31 Note here that, while the Silk Road projects are outwardlooking projects with a large part of their investment done abroad,
they do include the upgrading of communication and economic
infrastructures within China.

4. The geopolitical roadblocks

Raffaello Pantucci and Qingzhen Chen
Sources:
Zhang Yunling, Analysis says One Belt One Road Faces
Five Challenges, Xiaotang Caizhi, 23 March 2015.32
Tang Yiru, Where does the money come from for
the One Belt One Road? Geopolitical risks cannot be
ignored, Guoji Jinrong Bao, 9 February 2015.33
Hu Zhiyong, How to understand the political risks of
One Belt One Road, Aisixiang, 2 March 2015.34
Jia Qingguo, A number of issues that the OBOR urgently
needs to clarify and prove, Aisixiang, 24 March 2015.35
Ge Jianxiong, The History of One Belt One Road is
misunderstood, Financial Times (Chinese version), 10
March 2015.36
Pang Zhongying, One of the resistances to the One Belt
One Road is from India, Aisixiang, 4 March 2015.37

Chinese authorities and authors selected here describe

Chinas One Belt, One Road (, yidai yilu,
hereafter OBOR) strategy as one of the most important
foreign policy initiatives in the twenty-first century,
and Chinese authors agree. Across the country (and,
increasingly, across the world), Chinese universities and
research institutions are conducting projects to explore
how the vision might be implemented. Meanwhile, Chinas
leadership is offering economic incentives to help make
the vision a reality, either through bilateral connections or
through the new constellation of multilateral international
financial institutions that China is developing.38 However,
Chinese comments also reflect that the strategy will have
to overcome many challenges. Is Chinese business ready
32 Zhang Yunling is professor of International Economics at the
Institute for Asia Pacific Studies at CASS and a CPPCC member.
33 Tang Yiru is a journalist at Guoji Jinrong Bao.
34 Hu Zhiyong is a research fellow at the Institute for International Relations at the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences.
35 Jia Qingguo is a member of the Standing Committee of the
CPPCC and dean of the University of international relations at
Beijing University.
36 Ge Jianxiong is professor of History and Historical Geography
at Fudan University and a CPPCC member.
37 Pang Zhongying is professor of International Relations at the
School of International Studies, Renmin University of China in
Beijing.
38 The most publicised recent bilateral commitment was the $46
billion of investments pledged by Xi Jinpings during his two-day
visit to Pakistan in April, which was followed soon after in early
May by a visit to Kazakhstan, Russia, and Belarus in which a
further $15.7 billion in deals were signed in Belarus alone. New international financial institutions include the Asian Infrastructure
Investment Bank (AIIB), the BRICS New Development Bank, the
Silk Road Fund, a CIC-backed fund (announced recently, during
Li Keqiangs visit to Brazil), and even, possibly, a SCO Development Bank.

to go global? Are the countries along the routes ready to

embrace the initiative? How much does China know about
the countries involved and about how they will be changed
by Chinese investment? And is China properly prepared to
implement this strategy?
Internal challenges
Zhang Yunling outlines several internal and external
constraints to the OBOR project. One problem is that
results are expected quickly; President Xi Jinping has said
that he wants to see the strategy having an impact this year.
However, the foundation of the OBOR project is large-scale
infrastructure investment, which cannot yield quick and
visible returns. Zhang suggests that expectations should
be lowered and that the plans should be given a ten-year
timeframe for success. China also needs to be open about
how the strategy is being developed and about who can be
involved. Although the OBOR is a Chinese initiative, China
must make sure it remains open to everyone along the
routes, including to existing international institutions.
According to Guoji Jinrong Bao, Chinese authorities
have tried to stress the openness of the OBOR strategy,
particularly to private capital. Private funding has already
started to materialise: for example, the Maritime Silk
Road Investment Fund Management Centre, a private
capital company, is planning to set up a Maritime Silk
Road Bank with $100 billion in assets to invest in projects
in countries, regions, and cities along the routes. Chinese
authorities are pleased about the development, although
it must be admitted that there is a degree of risk attached
to this new bank. Because of its size, the new institution
could require public support if it should find itself in
financial distress.
The OBOR has also attracted great interest within China
from local and provincial governments. More than 22
provinces in China have said in their government working
reports that they want to take part in the initiative. However,
Guoji Jinrong Bao points out that the rush to implement
the OBOR could lead to duplication and wastage. For
example, many international railway projects have sprung
up to go along with the initiative. But these routes tend
to be expensive and are often underused. In the rush to
support the OBOR, a number of provinces have poured
subsidies into projects that are not necessarily economically
viable. And many local officials have developed plans for
cooperation with Central Asian countries that are focused
on their own narrow regional interests rather than on
achieving the larger national strategy. It seems that
Chinas provinces and regions are getting caught up in the
excitement around the OBOR, and the rush to join in could
have damaging repercussions.

11

CHINA ANALYSIS

External challenges
Zhang also describes three external challenges. The most
serious one is the suspicion with which other countries
view Chinas aims and strategic purposes. Many fear
that the OBOR is a veiled attempt by China to dominate
its neighbouring regions. These doubts mean that many
countries are reluctant to cooperate in the initiative.
Among potential partner countries, members of the
Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) are
probably the most concerned.
Another challenge, Zhang says, is Chinas existing disputes
with its neighbours. If the Maritime Silk Road is to become
a reality, the first stop will be the South China Sea, an
area that is the site of many territorial issues. Zhang is
not convinced that China and its neighbours in the region
can control the situation,
avoid escalation, and
The
most
serious
create a new regional
challenge
for
China
trading order.

is the suspicion with

which other countries
view China's aims and
strategic purposes.

Many
Chinese
commentators are also
concerned about political
risk. Zhang points out
that most of the countries involved in the OBOR are still
in transition. Chinas economic growth, together with
the impact that this growth has on its neighbours, will
necessarily influence the internal political dynamics of
these countries. Opposition parties will use China in their
efforts to make statements against current authorities.
Zhang says that China needs to do more research into
its neighbours domestic political situations. By doing so,
it could help the large Chinese companies investing on
the ground in these countries, which do not necessarily
understand the political nuances of the environments in
which they are operating. In this way, China could avoid
dangerous unintended consequences.

June 2015

Jia Qingguo says that along the routes to Chinas west,

whether via Central Asia and Russia to Europe or via
Pakistan to the Middle East, distances to market are long and
geographical terrain is poor, with many areas only sparsely
populated. Even in countries with sizeable populations, low
economic development and limited market size constrain
opportunities for profit. Many of the countries along the
route have underdeveloped market economies that are
beset by problems of corruption and of low administrative
efficiency. Operating costs are often high and customs
clearance is slow. The immaturity of these markets is likely
to have a negative impact on the Chinese firms trying to
implement the OBOR through these territories.

12

Hu Zhiyong says that the threat of terrorism represents

another political risk along the OBOR route. As the
United States and NATO withdraw from Afghanistan,
it is becoming increasingly possible that the current

government will collapse and the Taliban will return. If this

happens, it will have a knock-on effect in South and Central
Asia, increasing instability along the Silk Road routes into
the region. The three evil forces (, sangu shili)
could be the most destabilising force for the initiative but
the countries along the routes are not making a coherent
effort to address these problems.39
Unsurprisingly, as in most discussions on Chinese foreign
policy, the authors bring up the non-interference policy. Ge
Jianxiong says that China rightly does not want to interfere
with other countries domestic issues, but that the reality
is that others are interfering with Chinese business abroad.
For example, Chinas water pipe construction project
was burnt down in Libya in 2003, and in 2014, over 200
container trucks had to be abandoned on the roads in
Kyrgyzstan because of disturbances by angry locals. What
can or should China do when countries become politically
unstable or break contracts, causing China to lose materiel,
people, or money? Ge asks how China can expect to protect
the achievements of the OBOR, given that it passes through
such unstable countries, and at the same time protect
Chinese companies and their interests, while not interfering
in other countries domestic politics. Chinese foreign policy
needs to find a way to address this complicated dilemma.
Big countries: the US, Russia, and India
Another challenge for China and for the initiative is the
potential for conflicts or geopolitical tensions to emerge
with other powers. Hu Zhiyong believes that the US will
have an impact on the OBOR. As China advances the
project, the US will be forced to increase the attention
it pays to Central Asia and to Chinas influence in the
region. This will have consequences for the smooth
implementation of the strategy.
Chinese commentators also expect resistance from Russia.
Quoted in Guoji Jinrong Bao, Wang Yiwei expects that the
Russian-led Eurasian Union (EEU) will divide the relevant
countries along the route, leaving them torn between
choosing to pursue stronger ties with Russia or with China.40
Further, the EEU might not be willing or even able to
cooperate with the OBOR. He says that the two initiatives
are very different: one is a trade and economic corridor
initiated by Beijing, while the other is a new economic zone
controlled by Moscow.

39 The three evil forces are a Chinese analytical conception

most frequently cited within the context of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO). They are terrorism, separatism, and
religious extremism and are taken to mean the drivers of the
terrorist groups that most concern Chinese policymakers.
40 Wang Yiwei is professor of international relations at Renmin
University, director of the Institute of International Affairs and
of the Research Center on the European Union. He has published
extensively on the OBOR project. The EEU was formally launched
in January 2015.

Hu Zhiyong agrees: the unbalanced trade relations between

China and Russia, he thinks, will engender resentment
between the two powers, as well as in the regional countries
stuck between the two. Russia will be concerned about the
fact that the OBOR initiative covers areas within Russias
traditional sphere of interest. He adds that Russia has an
ambiguous attitude to China's territorial disputes with
other countries. Moreover, its own historical, territorial,
military, and ideological disputes with China will create
barriers to the OBOR.
India may also challenge Chinas OBOR. The article in Guoji
Jinrong Bao says that India remains cautious on the project
and still has not expressed its full support. Pang Zhongying
contends that India will be a challenge to Chinas OBOR.
India sees the initiative not as an opportunity, but as a
threat or a form of competition. Modis administration has
even come up with a counter proposal to the Maritime Silk
Road: the so-called Project Mausam.41 Indias position at
the moment is to indulge Chinas OBOR in other words,
to let it proceed while trying to gain a better understanding
of it. But China has undertaken little research into the
Mausam initiative, and right now seems reluctant to engage
with it at all.

the Silk Road developed organically to meet foreign demand

for Chinese silk. Now, the situation is different. This time,
the motivation for building the OBOR comes from China
itself it has neither the cooperation of nor the demand
from other countries. Ge thinks it is impossible or at least
dangerous to build such a huge project with a supplybased approach, or without a clearer sense of demand from
partner countries. More research needs to be done on the
needs of partner countries.
Chinas academic community believes that the OBOR
faces numerous challenges. Internally, there is too great
a focus on quick results, which could lead to wastage.
Externally, the OBOR faces political risks, the three evil
forces, and challenges from big states which are either
concerned about the project or have interests that conflict
with it. Smaller powers are equally concerned, although
they express this disquiet differently. Chinese scholars
clearly reflect the Chinese authorities view that the OBOR
is a highly significant foreign policy idea that has moved
beyond rhetoric. However, they find that its articulation
is still unclear and that in its current conception, it faces
numerous problems. Developing greater clarity will clearly
be a driver of academic thinking for the near-term future.

Conceptualisation and insufficient research

Jia Qingguo says China urgently needs to come to an
understanding of the true meaning of the OBOR. There are
many different interpretations of the project. Some see it as
an opening up through Chinas western or southern regions.
Others see it as an attempt to reach out to developing
countries. And some see the project not so much as a new
mechanism, but as a new strategic ideological concept
and initiative aimed at launching a new development era.
Commentators and stakeholders also disagree on what
the OBOR should try to achieve. Some say it is mainly a
form of economic cooperation, while others think it should
go beyond that and aim to increase cultural exchange. Jia
argues that this lack of understanding is a real problem
for the development of the initiative. He calls for further
research to ensure that the OBOR will generate tangible
benefits for China and its partner countries along the routes.
Ge Jianxiong says that most people do not know the proper
history of the Silk Road, and moreover, just because the
Silk Road worked in the past, that does not mean that it
would necessarily work today. He thinks that there is a
misconception that China built the Silk Road. But in fact,
41 Project Mausam is an initiative announced by Indian
President Modi to increase Indias links with countries impacted
by the Maritime Silk Road. Characterised in the Indian press as a
transnational initiative meant to revive [Indias] ancient maritime
routes and cultural linkages with countries in the region, the
project is seen as a direct response to Chinas OBOR. See Sachin
Parashar, Narendra Modis Mausam manoeuvre to check
Chinas maritime might, The Times of India, 16 September 2014,
available at: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/NarendraModis-Mausam-manoeuvre-to-check-Chinas-maritime-might/
articleshow/42562085.cms.

13

CHINA ANALYSIS

5. Chinas AIIB: A triumph in public diplomacy

Agatha Kratz
Sources:
Cai Tingyi, Wang Yanchun, and Jin Yan, Outlook for
the AIIB, Caijing, 7 April 2015.42
She Jianguang, Trying out a new international financing
paradigm, Caijing, 7 April 2015.43
Shui Shangnan, If the AIIB only focuses on mutual
benefit, it wont succeed, Gongshi Wang, 13 April 2015.44
Meng Xiaoke, Why have European powers embraced
the AIIB one after another?, Zhongguo Qingnian Bao
China Youth Daily, 25 March 2015.45
Wang Jun, How can the AIIB still succeed?, Caixin
Zhoukan Caixin Weekly, 6 April 2015.46

In October 2013, during Xi Jinping and Li Keqiangs tour

of South East Asia, the idea of an Asian Infrastructure
Investment Bank (AIIB) was first raised. Eighteen months
later, 57 countries have expressed interest in joining
the bank.47 She Jianguang says there is extraordinary
excitement (, renao feifan) around the project,
and the legal capital objective of $100 billion might well be
reached much more quickly than expected. The main aim of
the bank is to promote the construction of infrastructure in
Asia and to provide financial support to Chinas Silk Road
projects. But the interest shown by countries from outside
Asia which even China did not expect has made it a
truly international project. Many even see it as a clear first
diplomatic victory (, waijiao chu jie) for China, as
Cai Tingyi, Wang Yanchun, and Jin Yan say. How did the
project gather such support? How much of a victory does it
represent for China? And what challenges lie ahead?
The reasons for Chinas success
Caijings journalists, Cai Tingyi, Wang Yanchun, and Jin
Yan, say that the early success of the project was helped
by the professionalism, openness, and high standards
42 Cai Tingyi, Wang Yanchun, and Jin Yan are all journalists for
Caijing.
43 She Jianguang is CEO and chief economist at Mizuho Securities Asia.
44 Shui Shangnan is a guest professor at Southern China Agriculture University. He has been doing research on trade, development, and market policies for UNDP and has participated or been
responsible for many United Nations economic development
projects in Africa, Asia, Latin America, and China.

June 2015

45 Meng Xiaoke is a journalist for China Youth Daily, based in

Paris.

14

46 Wang Jun is lead financial sector specialist, East Asia and

Pacific Region, at the World Bank.
47 Including 37 countries from Asia, 20 from outside of Asia,
and four of the G7 countries. For a list of prospective founding
members, see the AIIB websites Members section, available at:
http://aiibank.org/members.html.

deployed in the initiatives preparatory phases. The process

was transparent and several high-level consultations
took place involving existing development banks and
multilateral organisation experts.
More importantly, they say, the AIIB was created to fill a
real need in terms of infrastructure financing. They cite
an Asian Development Bank (ADB) report saying that
Asia needs $8.2 trillion in infrastructure financing from
2010 to 2020. The World Bank (WB) and the ADB cannot
supply this much, so the AIIB represents a useful platform
to help fill the gap. This makes it only natural that many
countries would want to contribute. Led by China, the
project will aim to achieve what Asian countries have so
far been unable to do: to channel Asias impressive savings
and foreign exchange reserves into long-term strategic
pan-Asian investments.
She Jianguang and Shui Shangnan say that the banks
success was also a product of the very nature of the
institution: a multilateral development bank for a new age
(, xin shidai duobian kaifa yinhang).48
Meng Xiaoke says that existing development institutions
are obsolete. The Bretton Woods institutions, for example,
were set up 70 years ago, when the United States produced
almost 50 percent of global GDP and held 70 percent of
the worlds gold reserves.49 So, of course these institutions
reflected US dominance. However, the global balance has
been dramatically altered by the rise of emerging markets
and the relative weakening of the developed countries since
the 2008 crisis. Traditional institutions are now outdated
and unsuited to the current global situation. The emerging
countries first among them China have speaking
rights (, huayuquan) in these institutions that do
not reflect their economic weight, and the US still possesses
veto power, even though it represents only 17 percent
participation in the International Monetary Fund and 16
percent of world GDP.50
To remedy this distortion, the reform of IMF voting rights
was launched in 2010, but the process remains extremely
slow, mainly due to US reluctance to carry through
reform.51 The Caijing journalists say that the USs attitude
is careless (, manbujingxin) and arrogant (
, aoman), and that the US is dismissive of the need to
restructure the current international financial order. Thus,
by creating the AIIB, China is putting pressure on the West
48 This expression is actually from Cai Tingyi, Wang Yanchun,
and Jin Yans article, but sums up quite clearly She Jianguang and
Shui Shangnans views on the issue.
49 Numbers presented by Zhu Min in: Yang Lan interviews Lin
Yifu and Zhu Min, The AIIBs many victories, Yang Lan Fangtan Lu Yang Lans interview records, transcribed in Caijing, 7
April 2015.
50 IMF figure for 2015, based on US gross domestic product
based on purchasing-power-parity (PPP), IMF WEO Database
April 2015.
51 She Jianguang explains that the Republican-led US Congress,
opposed to reform, has been delaying the process.

to further the reform of the existing institutions as well as

offering developing countries an alternative: a multilateral
cooperative banking organisation led by emerging powers.
This is one of the main reasons that international public
opinion was strongly in favour of Chinas initiative. Besides,
the journalists add, the AIIBs success even among US allies
shows the growing antipathy (, fangan) towards US
hegemony, along with the enthusiastic expectations (
, relie qidai) for the internationalisation of the
renminbi.52 She Jianguang notes that, in the past, most calls
for renminbi internationalisation came from inside China.
But now, international support for internationalisation is
growing, as more and more countries become tired of the
dollar predicament (, meiyuan de kunjing).
Shui Shangnan says that the AIIB is the subject of global
interest because it represents a new type of institution
whose objective is not, unlike that of the WB, to promote
liberal Western values.53 As an institution led by emerging
countries, the AIIB aims to respond directly to their
needs which means, among other things, lower or looser
conditions for financial support.
The EU turncoats
The reasons of Asian and emerging countries for joining
the AIIB are quite straightforward. However, Meng tries
to understand why European powers have embraced
the AIIB the countries that She Jianguang refers to
as turncoats (, daoge). The AIIB project had only
gathered 21 countries (including China) by the time
the first memorandum was signed on 24 October
2014.54 But the unexpected (, churenyiliao)
declaration by Britains Chancellor George Osborne on
12 March 2015 that the United Kingdom wished to join
the bank as a founding member provoked an avalanchelike wave of additions (, xuebeng shi de
jiaru chao), including Germany, France, Italy, and later
on, Luxembourg, Denmark, and Switzerland.55 In one
night (, yiyezhijian), the Caijing journalists say,
the AIIB project evolved from a mostly Asian initiative to
a full-on global, multilateral institution.

52 Caijings journalists cite EU countries fight (, zhengduo) over offshore renminbi agreements as a proof of this trend.
53 Shui Shangnan mentions the example of structural adjustment programmes, which were a condition imposed by the WB
and IMF for financial support to economically distressed developing countries. He also notes the example of Burma, which has only
been able to benefit from IMF and WB support since its democratic transition. According to the author, this shows that the IMF
and WB are mostly looking to impose their liberal Western values,
rather than to support development and prosperity.
54 Memorandum on setting up the AIIB, ,
choujian yatouhang de changyi.
55 An expression used in Wang Ling, Zhang Yuzhe, Wang Liwei,
Li Qing, Chen Lixiong (in Singapore), Zhang Yuanan (Washington), How can the AIIB succeed?, Caixin Zhoukan Caixin
Weekly, 24 April 2015.

The Caijing journalists say that this European diplomatic

turnaround (, Ouzhou waijiao nizhuan)
represents an undeniable and severe defeat (
, bunengbu xuanshi yanzhong cuobai) for the US,
which had put pressure on its allies not to join the bank.
However, although the UKs move surprised some, it came
as no surprise to China. Indeed, the journalists say, the UK
and China had been in touch regarding the bank since the
summer of 2014, following discussions with Li Keqiang
during his visit to the UK in June. So, China had in fact
always been optimistic that the UK would join. Germany
had also pushed for a
common understanding
The bank's success on the AIIB during G7
was also a product meetings, but the US
of the very nature and Japan had rejected
of the institution: "a its calls. Therefore,
multilateral
develop- Germany, France, and
ment bank for a new Italy decided to join on
age".
their own. According to
Caijing, in this instance
as in that of off-shore renminbi agreements, European
countries fought to be the first and feared to be the last (
, zhengxiankonghou).
Meng says that the European countries decision to join the
bank is not irrational. Europe has experienced economic
difficulties over the past few years, and it is looking to
benefit from Asias impressive growth. Besides, in spite of
its own depressed economic environment, European Union
member states have plenty of funds available for investment,
and they are looking for more profitable opportunities than
those available in Europe. Finally, She Jianguang explains,
France and Germany especially could easily lever their
companies significant experience, impressive technologies,
and operational knowledge in the context of infrastructure
building in Asia, and thus reap the benefits of the planned
infrastructure projects. Therefore, She writes that investing
in the AIIB is profitable (, youliketu) and in
line with the countries national interests (,
fuhe qi guojia liyi). Meng also points out that, since Chinas
influence in the world is growing fast, EU countries see the
AIIB as an opportunity to deepen their relations with China.
Meng goes further, stating almost wishfully that EU
countries are also beginning to realise that a US-led
international order might no longer be in their favour. He
says that the EU started to lose confidence in the US during
the 2008 crisis, when the US showed only limited support
for the EU it did not buy EU bonds, it downgraded EU
countries (via US rating agencies), and later on it made
intensive use of quantitative easing despite the fact that it
hurt EU interests. Therefore, just like emerging countries,
the EU might be growing more interested in building a
space for itself outside US influence, and in looking to
increase its speaking rights in the international order.
15

CHINA ANALYSIS

Challenges ahead for the AIIB

Many consider the AIIBs first steps to have been a victory,
but Wang Jun thinks that to declare victory now would be
way too optimistic (, weimian guoyu leguan).
The AIIB has a long road ahead, and China, as the leading
country in the project, will face the greatest challenges.
Wang says that the first difficulty will come from the fact that
the AIIBs founding members are very different from each
other, in terms of development, values, faiths, and overall
expectations. Therefore, China will have to find common
ground despite differences (, qiutongcunyi).
Its ability to do so will prove extremely useful now that the
real negotiation phase has officially started. Wang says that
the governance structure of the AIIB is still unclear, and
decisions will have to be reached on a number of issues,
such as participation shares, voting rights, investment and
loan procedures, and so on.
One of the most contentious issues will be veto power. The
Caijing journalists note that participation in the bank will
most probably depend on economic weight, along a regional
split.56 The journalists say that veto rights should be
proportional to participation in the bank. And as more and
more countries join the bank, Chinas share of participation
will decline. However, because the US and Japan are not
participating, China might retain de facto veto power.57
Du Dawei, a former representative of China at the WB,
explains that if China should have veto power, participants
might fear that China will use the bank for its own interests.
The Caijing journalists say that Chinas response to this
frequent objection is that the bank will aim to use consensus
whenever possible, especially for strategic decisions. When
voting is necessary for important decisions, a qualified
majority might be required. And if a vote should be required,
countries with the same interests could team up to gain the
power of veto together.

June 2015

56 In a public address on 25 March, Vice-Minister of Finance

Shi Yaobin said that AIIB members would be divided between
inner (, yunei, i.e. Asian) and outer (, yuwai, i.e.
from outside of Asia) countries. At a recent meeting between
founding members in Singapore, it was announced that Asian
countries would most probably own between 72 to 75 percent of
the bank. As such, the AIIB voting right structure would be quite
similar to that of the ADB, where Asian countries hold 60 percent
of voting rights and non-Asian countries 40 percent. For more
information, see: China to take 'up to 30 per cent stake' in AIIB
development bank, South China Morning Post, 22 May 2015,
available at: http://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/
article/1806870/china-take-30-cent-stake-aiib.

16

57 Here again, founding members meeting in Singapore have announced that China would probably take a 25-30 percent stake in
the Bank, with India likely being the second-largest shareholder
(between 10 and 15 percent). For more information, see China to
take 'up to 30 percent stake' in AIIB development bank, South
China Morning Post, 22 May 2015, available at: http://www.
scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/1806870/chinatake-30-cent-stake-aiib.

Du notes that still having a veto power mechanism in a

multilateral organisation is quite backwards (
, zai dangjin de
(duobian jigou zhong) rengyou foujuequan, shi luohou
de), especially since China is trying to break free from
traditional institutions. Wang Jun agrees. He says that
China has benefited from the growing disappointment (
, shiwang) with the WB, and so it should avoid repeating
the same mistakes.
Wang Jun sees one final obstacle: talent (, rencai). He
says that the success of the WB comes from its governance,
values, knowledge, experience, and expertise; it has built
its influence on these attributes. Its influence relies not just
on the size of the money bag (, bingfei
qiandaizi de daxiao), but on its people. In terms of talent,
the WB is an institution with concentrated know-how and
capabilities. Similarly, China must concentrate skills within
the AIIB. China will need to gather a pool of managers who
can speak fluent English and understand international
regulations, with a sound training in economics, high moral
standing, leadership skills, and a global vision. This might
be quite a challenge.
Wang concludes that these difficulties are much greater
than Chinese had originally anticipated. Even if many see
the recent wave of participants as a first victory, China has
a long way to go to prove that it can successfully lead a
multilateral financing institution.

About the authors

About Asia Centre

Antoine Bondaz is a PhD candidate in Political Sciences

and International Relations in Sciences Po Paris, his
research focus is Chinas strategic thinking and security
issues in the Asia-Pacific region, he can be reached at
[email protected].

Asia Centre, founded in August 2005, conducts research

and organizes debate on international relations and
strategic issues, as well as on the political and economic
transformations in the Asia-Pacific; promotes cooperation
and second track dialogue with partners in Asia, Europe
and the world; publishes timely information and analysis
from the region, executive briefs and reports from our
research team.

David Cohen is the former editor of the Jamestown

Foundation's China Brief, currently studying at Stanford. He
can be reached at [email protected].
Franois Godement is an associate researcher at Asia
Centre, a senior policy fellow and head of the China & Asia
programme at the European Council on Foreign Relations,
he can be reached at [email protected].
Agatha Kratz is the chief editor of China Analysis, and an
Associate Policy Fellow at the European Council on Foreign
Relations Asia & China Programme. She can be reached at
[email protected].

Asia Centre programmes cover the prevention of conflicts

and regional integration, the challenges of democracy and
governance, globalisation and national strategies, energy,
proliferation and sustainable development. They also draw
contributions and viewpoints from research associates and
a network of research institutions.
www.centreasia.eu

Raffaello Pantucci is Director of International Security

Studies at the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI). His
work on China focuses on Chinas relations across its western
borders and he is the editor of www.chinaincentralasia.com.
He can be contacted at [email protected].
ECFR would like to thank Justine Doody for her help in
preparing the text for publication.

This publication is edited in collaboration with Asia Centre.

This paper represents not the collective views of ECFR or
Asia Centre, but only the view of its authors.

Copyright of this publication is held by the European

Council on Foreign Relations and Asia Centre. You may
not copy, reproduce, republish or circulate in any way the
content from this publication except for your own personal
and non-commercial use. Any other use requires prior
written permission.
ECFR / Asia Centre 2015
Contact: [email protected], [email protected]

17

CHINA ANALYSIS

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