New Silk Roads « HELEN H WANG

Xi Jinping’s Mideast Trip to Push “One Belt One Road”

The Chinese president Xi Jinping has recently completed a three-nation tour in the Middle East – Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and Iran, offering tens of billions in loans and investments. These three countries are strategically located on the routes of the new silk roads that China is trying to revive, also known as “One Belt, One Road.”

According to a Reuters article, Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei told President Xi Jinping during the visit that “Iranians never trusted the West…. That’s why Tehran seeks cooperation with more independent countries” (like China).

Xi certainly wants to cash in on this distrust. The two countries agreed to increase bilateral trade to $600 billion in the next 10 years. Among many agreements signed are 17 memorandums to kick-start “a maritime Silk Road of the 21st century,” one of the two routes of the “One Belt, One Road” program. Continue reading Xi Jinping’s Mideast Trip to Push “One Belt One Road”

Reports of the Chinese Economy’s Death Have Been Greatly Exaggerated

I was baffled by why some people think a 6.9% growth for a $10 trillion economy is such bad news. The headlines were occupied by China’s economic slowdown, and what a catastrophe it might bring to the world.

To me, slower growth is long expected. It means that the Chinese economy is maturing. Even when I interviewed people in China about 10 years ago, no one had any illusion that the Chinese economy would continue its breakneck speed forever. “At some point,” many told me, “the economy will slow down.”

Now we are at that “point.” I am actually surprised that the high growth period lasted as long as it did. Yes, the volatile stock market was nerve-racking. The industrial overcapacity and high level of debt are alarming. But the government still has tools to address these problems.

For example, the New Silk Roads, or “One Belt, One Road” program, can be a way to help absorb China’s overcapacity in construction and steel. American companies are jumping on the bandwagon. Continue reading Reports of the Chinese Economy’s Death Have Been Greatly Exaggerated

China’s Triple Wins: The New Silk Roads

I recently came across an interesting article by Financial Times, China’s Great Game: Road to a New Empire. It describes China’s new Silk Road program – “a modern version of the ancient trade route,” and how it has become China’s signature foreign policy initiative under President Xi Jinping.

The New Silk Road program consists two routes, known as “One Belt, One Road” (see the map). The land route is called “the Silk Road Economic Belt,” linking central Asia, Russia and Europe. The sea route has an odd name: “the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road,” and goes through the western Pacific and the Indian Ocean. Thus, “One Belt, One Road.”

If successful, the New Silk Roads could be the largest economic development scheme on the face of the earth. The Financial Times article compares it to the US-led Marshall Plan after WWII:

If the sum total of China’s commitments are taken at face value, the new Silk Road is set to become the largest programme of economic diplomacy since the US-led Marshall Plan for postwar reconstruction in Europe, covering dozens of countries with a total population of over 3bn people.

Indeed, if successful, the New Silk Road program will be triple wins for China. Continue reading China’s Triple Wins: The New Silk Roads

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Xi Jinping’s Mideast Trip to Push “One Belt One Road”

Reports of the Chinese Economy’s Death Have Been Greatly Exaggerated

China’s Triple Wins: The New Silk Roads