The path ahead for China’s Belt and Road Initiative
Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), the scheme’s official name in English, as a gift to the world that has created huge economic benefits. China claims that 420,000 jobs have been created in BRI countries and 40m people lifted out of poverty thanks to BRI-generated growth. America, and many of its allies, see the BRI as far less benign: a political tool aimed at stifling foreign criticism of Mr Xi’s iron-fisted rule and providing a leg-up for his country’s firms that has saddled countries with crippling debt.
Among rich countries, China’s BRI festivities will do nothing to allay anxieties. The highlight will be a Belt and Road Forum, which is due to take place in Beijing in October. World leaders have been invited, but none from the West is expected to attend.
The most prominent guest will be Russia’s Vladimir Putin. His presence, alongside Mr Xi, will highlight what many in the West see behind the BRI veil: an attempt by China to sell an alternative model of development that eschews democracy and creates a world safe for dictators. In the build-up to the event, China has been struggling to keep on board the one G7 member that has signed up to the scheme—Italy.
Its deputy prime minister, Antonio Tajani, has just visited Beijing with a message: his country may pull out. More resistance is expected at a meeting of the G20 in Delhi on September 9th and 10th. President Joe Biden will offer an alternative vision of helping poorer countries by beefing up the role of the World Bank and the IMF—institutions that his national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, said were “founded on and continue to embody US leadership".
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