China on Tuesday opened a conference commemorating the Belt and Road Initiative’s 10th anniversary. An ambitious but contentious project to increase connectivity and trade around the world. Using Chinese funding and infrastructure-building expertise. Vladimir Putin of Russia is among the world leaders joining the high-profile meeting in Beijing.
The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), which was started by Chinese President Xi Jinping in 2013, has invests hundreds of billions of dollars to build bridges, ports, highways, power plants, and communications projects throughout Asia, Latin America, Africa, and portions of Europe.
Chinese President
The BRI, hailed by Xi as a “project of the century,” has become a stark emblem of China’s emergence as a major world power. However, it has also come under increasing scrutiny. Specially in Western capitals where governments are cautious of Beijing’s ambitious plans for the world. The enormous project has received harsh criticism. Beijing has been accused of burdening developing nations with onerous debt. Its massive projects have often been the target of complaints. If not outright demonstrations, regarding their high environmental costs, violations of labour laws, and corruption scandals.
After ten years, Xi’s worldwide building drive is on a turning point. Due to the slowdown in the second-largest economy in the world, Chinese investment in BRI projects has decreased.
United States
The United States has suggested its own investment programme to support global infrastructure development. It views the BRI as a means for Beijing to increase its worldwide influence at the price of American dominance. In preparation for the arrival of delegations and leaders from all over the world. Security has been stepped up in the Chinese capital, with road closures and a significant police presence.
Success of Project
The BRI has provided funding for infrastructure and energy projects all across the developing globe. It was initially intended as an overland “belt” and a marine “road” connecting China with Europe and Africa. Chinese construction companies have built ports from Sri Lanka to West Africa. Electrical and telecom infrastructure from Latin America to Southeast Asia. And paved roadways from Papua New Guinea to Kenya using funding from China’s development banks and state-run commercial lenders.
According to Beijing, cooperation agreements have been signed by more than 150 countries under the BRI umbrella, and “up to one trillion dollars of investment have been mobilised.”
Chinese government borrowers in developing nations received at least $331 billion from China’s two major development banks between 2013 and 2021. According to a report by Boston University’s Global Development Policy Centre. According to AidData, a research lab at William & Mary in the US, China spent more money yearly on international development projects in the first five years of the initiative than any other major country, including the US.
Concerns and Criticism
Critics compare the BRI’s programmes to America’s Marshall Plan for rebuilding Europe after World War II and claim that while it has given poor countries important cash, it has done so at a price. Some have been criticised for having inadequate environmental and labour standards, while others have experienced ongoing financial issues or political resistance.
The Global Development Policy Centre found that Chinese development finance projects have significantly higher risks to biodiversity and to Indigenous lands than projects financed by the World Bank. Chinese-built fossil fuel power plants emit about 245 million tonnes of carbon dioxide annually. But hazardous lending is the main worry, with detractors charging that China is burdening low- and middle-income governments with excessive levels of debt in comparison to their GDPs.