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Many countries in this belt are also members of the China-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB). Nothing. It is not a legally binding agreement, but so far the Victorian government has not deviated from it. As part of its Silk Road strategy, China is involved in the construction and operation of railway lines, roads, airports and industries in large parts of Africa. In several countries such as Zambia, Ethiopia and Ghana, dams have been built with the help of China. In Nairobi, China is financing the construction of Africa`s tallest building, the Pinnacle Towers. With the $60 billion Chinese investment in Africa announced in September 2018, on the one hand, sales markets will be created and the local economy promoted, on the other hand, African raw materials will be made available to China. [71] However, not all BIS members host BRI projects. Some countries officially defend only one concept and pledge to work with China to promote the initiative. In Italy`s non-binding memorandum of understanding with China, for example, the two countries pledged to “work together under the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) to translate complementary forces into benefits for practical cooperation and sustainable growth.” Identifying countries that are not in the BRI is just as important as identifying those that are. As of January 2020, 57 countries had not joined the BRI. In addition to the United States and Canada in North America, most of these countries are clustered in Europe and Latin America, with smaller numbers in Asia and Africa. While participation in the BRI promises significant economic benefits, concerns remain about debt traps, corruption, security concerns related to Chinese investment, and ongoing territorial disputes, such as the South China Sea and the China-India border.3 Nevertheless, several U.S.
allies have resisted general regional trends and joined the BRI. such as Italy, South Korea and New Zealand.4 Figure 1 below summarizes the differences in BIS participation. The BRI`s goals include building an internal state and stabilizing ethnic unrest in its vast western landlocked regions such as Xinjiang and Yunnan, connecting these less developed regions to increased international trade flows that allow for closer economic integration with China`s inner core. [40] The development of port infrastructure and increased shipping related to the maritime Belt and Road Initiative could affect sensitive species and marine habitats such as coral reefs, mangroves, seagrass beds and salt marshes. The second major reason for this initiative is the legacy of the 2008 financial crisis, when the Chinese government responded to the emergency with a £4 trillion stimulus package, awarding contracts for the construction of railways, bridges and airports, while saturating the Chinese market. The Belt and Road framework offers an alternative market for China`s huge state-owned enterprises beyond China`s borders. What are the attributes of countries that join the BRI through cooperation agreements versus memoranda of understanding – and those that avoid them altogether? Non-BRI countries are most likely to be located in Europe, North America or Latin America and the Caribbean. They have the highest percentage of collective defense contracts with the United States and are the most democratic, politically stable and economically developed. Of the countries that have signed a cooperation agreement with China to participate in the BRI, half are in sub-Saharan Africa. These states have the fewest defense collective agreements with the United States and are the least democratic, politically the least stable and economically the least developed. Countries that have signed memoranda of understanding to join the BRI are the largest group. Most of these countries are located in Asia.
They have fewer defense collective agreements with the United States than non-BRI countries, but more than cooperation agreements. Countries that sign a memorandum of understanding are less democratic, politically stable and economically developed than countries that are not participants in the BRI, but more so than cooperation agreements. Figure 2 and Table 1 below summarize the main features of the Memorandum of Understanding, the Cooperation Agreement and the non-BRI participating countries. At the first Belt and Road Forum in May 2017, representatives from more than a hundred countries came to Beijing, while UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres praised the “immense potential” of the BRI, congratulated it on “sustainable development as a overarching goal” and promised that “the UN system is ready to follow this path with you.” Italy, an industrial country of the G7, has been a partner in the development of the project since March 2019. It is estimated that the entire project now affects more than 60% of the world`s population and about 35% of the global economy. Trade along the Silk Road could soon account for nearly 40% of total world trade, much of which is done by sea. The Silk Road Land Route also seems to remain a niche project in terms of transport volume in the future. [22] Victoria`s Liberal opposition questioned why the deal could not protect Victorian farmers from the 80% tariffs imposed on Australian barley by the Chinese government this month. In 2014, Xi Jinping presented plans to build a new maritime trade infrastructure along the ancient Marco Polo Road – a maritime silk road that connects China, Southeast Asia, Africa and Europe. It would be a longer route that bypasses the Strait of Malacca and includes petrol stations, ports, bridges, industry and infrastructure across Southeast Asia and the Indian Ocean. Pakistan is considered the most important partner country in these efforts through the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor project.
From the Chinese perspective, Africa is important as a market, supplier of raw materials and platform for the expansion of the new Silk Road – Africa`s coasts should be included. In the Kenyan port of Mombasa, China has built a rail and road link to the interior and the capital Nairobi. Northeast of Mombasa, a large port with 32 berths, including an adjacent industrial area, including infrastructure with new transport corridors to South Sudan and Ethiopia, is under construction. In Bagamoyo, Tanzania, a modern deep-water port, satellite city, airfield and industrial zone are under construction. Further towards the Mediterranean Sea, the Teda Egypt Special Economic Zone is being built near the Egyptian coastal city of Ain Sukhna as part of a joint Sino-Egyptian project. [70] Ambitions have been reduced to the immediate sphere of China in Southeast Asia, South Asia and Central Asia, with less investment in Europe and Latin America. .
