01.08.2022China’s Belt and Road Initiative

Jasnea Sarma from PGG was part of a multinational team of the China researchers who met in Switzerland to publish 2 policy factsheets based on collective research over the last decade on global discourse on China’s Belt and Road Initiative.

The factsheets investigates myths about China’s BRI (Belt and Road Initiative) ; and explains what Chinese development investments means - domestically, in the near periphery and globally. These policy papers are meant to aide all sectors including academia, journalism, development, industry and policy. The project was led by Agnieszka Joniak (University Fribourg), Timothy S Oakes (Colorado Boulder) and Allesandro Rippa (Rachel Carlson Centre).

The reports are publicly accessible. More information below:

Fact Sheet 1: "Demystifying the Belt and Road Initiative": "Discusses some of the assumptions that have emerged in the global discourse on the Belt and Road Initiative and provides research-based knowledge that should help us better understand what BRI is, and what it is not."
Link: https://bri.roadworkasia.com/

Fact Sheet 2: "China’s global development model: Looking beyond the Belt and Road Initiative" China’s development practices have several unique characteristics. These include speed, low costs, a pragmatic business orientation, and a style of project governance and management that is often at odds with Euro-American approaches. But while China often presents its approach as an alternative, it is nevertheless partly embedded in mainstream global patterns of development and financialization.
Link: https://chinadevelopmentmodel.roadworkasia.com/