Belt and Road Initiative

Brief History

In late 2013, Chinese President Xi Jinping announced the “Silk Road Economic Belt” and the “21. The “Century Maritime Silk Road” is a major transport and trade corridor project that envisages the use and development of strategic straits, passages, ports and oceans, especially land corridors extending from Asia to Europe and Africa.

These massive projects, also called the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), are designed to improve regional integration, boost trade and stimulate economic growth. The BRI is a very broad investment program aimed at developing infrastructure for power plants, communication and transport networks, as well as ports, roads, railways and airports.

Purpose

Building a large integrated market, taking full advantage of both international and local markets through cultural exchange and integration, increasing the mutual understanding and trust of member countries, ensuring an innovative capital inflow are some of the objectives.

It is estimated that Asia will continuously increase its current infrastructure spending over the next decade, mostly through borrowing, and will need infrastructure investment of $900 billion a year. That is why China aims to offer a great source of finance and investment to close this gap.

Included States

As of February 2023, 147 countries, which account for two-thirds of the world’s population and 40 percent of the global GDP, have signed on to the project or indicated interest in it.

Table 1: BRI Participating Countries

Country	Region	Income Group
Afghanistan	South Asia	Miscarriage
Albania	Europe & Central Asia	Upper of the Middle
Angola	Sub-Saharan Africa	Below Middle
Antigua ve Barbuda	Latin America & Caribbean	High
Argentina	Latin America & Caribbean	Above Middle
Armenia	Europe & Central Asia	Above Middle
Austria*	Europe & Central Asia	High
Azerbaijan	Europe & Central Asia	Above Middle
Bahrain	Middle East & North Africa	High
Bangladesh	South Asia	Below Middle
Barbados	Latin America & Caribbean	High
Belarus	Europe & Central Asia	Above Middle
Benin*	Sub-Saharan Africa	Miscarriage
United Arab Emirates	Middle East & North Africa	High
Bolivia	Latin America & Caribbean	Below Middle
Bosnia and Herzegovina	Europe & Central Asia	Above Middle
Botswana	Sub-Saharan Africa	Above Middle
Brunei	East Asia & Pacific	High
Bulgaria	Europe & Central Asia	Above Middle
Burundi	Sub-Saharan Africa	Miscarriage
Algeria	Middle East & North Africa	Above Middle
Cook Islands	East Asia & Pacific	Above Middle
Djibouti	Middle East & North Africa	Below Middle
Chad	Sub-Saharan Africa	Miscarriage
Czechia	Europe & Central Asia	High
China	East Asia & Pacific	Above Middle
East Timor	East Asia & Pacific	Below Middle
Dominica	Latin America & Caribbean	Miscarriage
Dominican Republic	Latin America & Caribbean	Above Middle
Ecuador	Latin America & Caribbean	Above Middle
El Salvador	Latin America & Caribbean	Below Middle
Equatorial Guinea	Sub-Saharan Africa	Above Middle
Indonesia	East Asia & Pacific	Below Middle
Eritrea	Sub-Saharan Africa	Miscarriage
Estonia	Europe & Central Asia	High
Ethiopia	Sub-Saharan Africa	Miscarriage
Morocco	Middle East & North Africa	Below Middle
Fiji	East Asia & Pacific	Above Middle
Ivory Coast	Sub-Saharan Africa	Below Middle
Philippines	East Asia & Pacific	Below Middle
Gabon	Sub-Saharan Africa	Above Middle
Gambia	Sub-Saharan Africa	Miscarriage
Georgia	Europe & Central Asia	Below Middle
Desire	Sub-Saharan Africa	Below Middle
Grenada	Latin America & Caribbean	Above Middle
Guinea	Sub-Saharan Africa	Miscarriage
Gine-Bissau	Sub-Saharan Africa	Miscarriage
Guyana	Latin America & Caribbean	Above Middle
South Africa	Sub-Saharan Africa	Above Middle
South Sudan	Sub-Saharan Africa	Miscarriage
Greek Cypriot Administration of Southern Cyprus	Europe & Central Asia	High
South Korea	East Asia & Pacific	High
Croatia	Europe & Central Asia	High
Iraq	Middle East & North Africa	Above Middle
Islamic Republic of Iran	Middle East & North Africa	Above Middle
Italy	Europe & Central Asia	High
Jamaica	Latin America & Caribbean	Above Middle
Kazakhstan	Europe & Central Asia	Above Middle
Kenya	Sub-Saharan Africa	Below Middle
Kiribati	East Asia & Pacific	Below Middle
Montenegro	Europe & Central Asia	Above Middle
Cabo Verde	Sub-Saharan Africa	Below Middle
Cambodia	East Asia & Pacific	Below Middle
Cameroon	Sub-Saharan Africa	Below Middle
Qatar	Middle East & North Africa	High
Comoros*	Sub-Saharan Africa	Miscarriage
Democratic Republic of the Congo	Sub-Saharan Africa	Miscarriage
Republic of the Congo*	Sub-Saharan Africa	Below Middle
Cost rich	Latin America & Caribbean	Above Middle
Kuwait	Middle East & North Africa	High
North Macedonia	Europe & Central Asia	Above Middle
Cuba	Latin America & Caribbean	Above Middle
Republic of Kyrgyzstan	Europe & Central Asia	Below Middle
Laos	East Asia & Pacific	Below Middle
Latvia	Europe & Central Asia	High
Lebanon	Middle East & North Africa	Above Middle
Lesotho	Sub-Saharan Africa	Below Middle
Liberia	Sub-Saharan Africa	Miscarriage
Libya	Middle East & North Africa	Above Middle
Lithuania	Europe & Central Asia	High
Luxembourg	Europe & Central Asia	High
Hungary	Europe & Central Asia	High
Madagascar	Sub-Saharan Africa	Miscarriage
Malawi	Sub-Saharan Africa	Miscarriage
Malaysia	East Asia & Pacific	Above Middle
Maldives	South Asia	Above Middle
Mali	Sub-Saharan Africa	Miscarriage
Malta	Middle East & North Africa	High
Mauritania	Sub-Saharan Africa	Below Middle
Arab Republic of Egypt	Middle East & North Africa	Below Middle
Micronesia	East Asia & Pacific	Below Middle
Moldova	Europe & Central Asia	Below Middle
Mongolia	East Asia & Pacific	Below Middle
Mozambique	Sub-Saharan Africa	Miscarriage
Myanmar	East Asia & Pacific	Below Middle
Namibia	Sub-Saharan Africa	Above Middle
Nepal	South Asia	Miscarriage
Nicaragua	Latin America & Caribbean	Below Middle
Niger*	Sub-Saharan Africa	Miscarriage
Nigeria	Sub-Saharan Africa	Below Middle
Niue	East Asia & Pacific	Below Middle
Uzbekistan	Europe & Central Asia	Below Middle
Pakistan	South Asia	Below Middle
Panama	Latin America & Caribbean	High
Papua New Guinea	East Asia & Pacific	Below Middle
Peru	Latin America & Caribbean	Above Middle
Poland	Europe & Central Asia	High
Portugal	Europe & Central Asia	High
Romania*	Europe & Central Asia	Above Middle
Russia*	Europe & Central Asia	Above Middle
Rwanda	Sub-Saharan Africa	Miscarriage
Samoa	East Asia & Pacific	Above Middle
Seychelles	Sub-Saharan Africa	High
Saudi Arabia	Middle East & North Africa	High
Senegal	Sub-Saharan Africa	Miscarriage
Serbia	Europe & Central Asia	Above Middle
Sierra Leone	Sub-Saharan Africa	Miscarriage
Singapore	East Asia & Pacific	High
Slovakia	Europe & Central Asia	High
Slovenia	Europe & Central Asia	High
Solomon Islands	East Asia & Pacific	Below Middle
Somali	Sub-Saharan Africa	Miscarriage
Sri Lanka	South Asia	Below Middle
Sudan	Sub-Saharan Africa	Below Middle
Suriname	Latin America & Caribbean	Above Middle
Syrian Arab Republic	Middle East & North Africa	Miscarriage
Chile	Latin America & Caribbean	High
Tajikistan	Europe & Central Asia	Miscarriage
Tanzania	Sub-Saharan Africa	Miscarriage
Thailand	East Asia & Pacific	Above Middle
Togo	Sub-Saharan Africa	Miscarriage
Tonga	East Asia & Pacific	Above Middle
Trinidad ve Tobago	Latin America & Caribbean	High
Tunisia	Middle East & North Africa	Below Middle
Türkiye	Europe & Central Asia	Above Middle
Turkmenistan	Europe & Central Asia	Above Middle
Uganda	Sub-Saharan Africa	Miscarriage
Ukraine	Europe & Central Asia	Below Middle
Oman	Middle East & North Africa	High
Uruguay	Latin America & Caribbean	High
Vanuatu	East Asia & Pacific	Below Middle
Venezuela	Latin America & Caribbean	Above Middle
Vietnam	East Asia & Pacific	Below Middle
Yemen	Middle East & North Africa	Miscarriage
New Zealand	East Asia & Pacific	High
Greece	Europe & Central Asia	High
Zambia	Sub-Saharan Africa	Below Middle
Zimbabwe	Sub-Saharan Africa	Miscarriage

*: States that do not have an official signatory, but intend to join.

States in the Process of Inclusion

Table 2: States in the Process of Inclusion

Country	Region	Income Group
Austria*	Europe & Central Asia	High
Benin*	Sub-Saharan Africa	Miscarriage
Comoros*	Sub-Saharan Africa	Miscarriage
Kongo Republic*	Sub-Saharan Africa	Below Middle
Nijer*	Sub-Saharan Africa	Miscarriage
Novelor*	Europe & Central Asia	Above Middle
Russia*	Europe & Central Asia	Above Middle

*: States that do not have an official signatory, but intend to join.

Belt and Road Initiative Investment Projects

China-Mongolia-Russia Economic Corridor (CMREC)

On September 11, 2014, China proposed a tripartite regional initiative to connect Mongolia’s Development Road Initiative (Steppe Road) and Russia’s Trans-Eurasian Railway Network. Through this corridor, Chinese-made products as well as Russian oil and gas, Mongolia’s natural resources such as coal, iron, silver, crude oil and gold are shipped.

The economic corridor in question starts from the Chinese cities of Tientsin and Dalian, reaching from the town of Erenhot in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region to the Gobi coal and copper deposits in Mongolia and the Choybalsan uranium and zinc deposit, and the Suifen River Moving along the way, it reaches the gold and iron ore deposits in the Far East region of Russia, the West Siberian oil field, and then the Baltic Sea. This corridor is three times shorter than the corridor that runs from the east of China to Western Europe by sea. during the test flights in 2015, cargo from China’s Manzhouli station to Moscow, Russia was delivered in about 12-14 days.

New Eurasian Land Bridge (NELB)

Themain backbone of the new Eurasian Land Bridge economic corridor is the 10800 km long railway. Originating in China’s Jiangsu and Shandong regions, the railway runs along the coasts of Kazakhstan, Russia and Belarus. One branch of the line leads south to reach the oil and gas resources around the Caspian Sea, uranium and iron ore deposits. This route is mainly used to transport products from China to Europe via freight train. This line is completed ina shorter time compared to maritime transport. Cargo arrived by sea in 37 days and is delivered over this line in 16 days.

China-Central Asia-West Asia Economic Belt (CCWAEC)

The purpose of this corridor is; It is to connect the rail systems between China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Iran and Türkiye. In other words, it connects China (via Urum and Xinjiang) to Kazakhstan and from there to the Mediterranean through Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Iran and Türkiye.

Route: Urumqi (China), Almaty (Kazakhstan), Bishkek (Kyrgyzstan), Tashkent and Samarkand (Uzbekistan), Dushanbe (Tacikistan), Ashgabat (Turkmenistan), Tehran (Iran), Ankara and Istanbul (Türkiye).

When this corridor is fully operational, the shipment of goods from eastern China to Iran by rail will take half the time compared to shipping by sea from the Shanghai Faith. Other countries to which this corridor contributes are: Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Mongolia, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Ukraine, Georgia and Russia.

China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC)

The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) is a 3,000 km regional infrastructure network project undertaken by Beijing. Its main objective is to secure China’s energy and other trade with Middle Eastern countries and reducerisks by avoiding the Malacca Strait route. In this context, it is planned to build a deep-sea port in GvAdar and a road and railway line extending from this port to China’s western Xinjiang Province. Pakistan’s gains are to meet its energy needs, improve infrastructure and modernize transport networks. In this way, Pakistan will move from an economic structure based on agriculture to an economic structure based on industry.

This project will not only benefit China and Pakistan, but also have a positive impact on Iran, Afghanistan, the Republic of Central Asia and the region. Stable growth, improved road, rail and air transport system, higher volume trade and investment opportunities are some of these gains.

Bangladesh-China-India-Myanmar Economic Corridor (BCIMEC)

The Bangladesh-China-India-Myanmar Economic Corridor (BCHMEK) project basically starts from Kunming, China, follows Myanmar and Bangladesh, reaching the Indian port city of Kolkata. From the said port, it is connected to the Port of Colombo in Sri Lanka. Thus, the land corridor established by China through Myanmar-Bangladesh-India connects to the Maritime Silk Road passing through Sri Lanka. Due to some of the challenges posed by regional geopolitics, the project has largely failed. The ongoing disagreements between India and China due to the Kashmir Problem and geopolitical-strategic competition, Myanmar and Bangladesh due to the Rohingya Problem, and China and Myanmar due to the Kokang Problem adversely affect the project. In addition, the political and social crises in Sri Lanka have made it difficult to implement this corridor.

The first of the objectives in this corridor is to developtransport corridors and infrastructure in the region, the second to develop energy resources, the third to develop agriculture and the fourth to develop trade and ultimately to ensure socio-economic development in the region. Although a budget of 22 billion dollars was initially foreseen for the implementation of the project, it is planned that 55 percent of this financing will be obtained from the participation partners of the Belt and Road Initiative banks.

China-Indo-China Peninsula Economic Corridor (CIPEC)

countries in the China-Indochina Peninsula Economic Corridor; Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam. Although the beginning of the Belt and Road Initiative dates back to 2013-2014, it took 2 to 3 years for the “China-Indochina Peninsula Economic Corridor” to become official. With a joint declaration signed by the PanBeibu Bay Economic Cooperation Forum and the “China-Indochina Peninsula Economic Corridor Development Forum”, the “China-Indochina Peninsula Economic Corridor Initiative” was launched.

The line in question, which aims to connect China to the Indochina Peninsula; It is divided into three branches: eastern, central and western corridors. The eastern corridor runs from Kunming, the administrative center of China’s Yunnan province, to Vietnam’s capital Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, following the coastline, and from there to Punom Pen, the capital of Cambodia, and finally to Bangkok, the capital of Thailand. In addition to the eastern corridor that passes through Vietnam, there is also the middle corridor, which is planned to connect China’s southwestern provinces of Guangxi and Yunnan directly to Bangkok and from there to Singapore. In addition to this, there is also a western corridor that envisages connecting China to Thailand through Myanmar.

China-Myanmar Economic Corridor (CMEK)

In line with this project, China plans to connect to Myanmar’s Kyaukpyu Port. Thus, it will be able to connect to the blue economic corridor in the Bay of Bengal. Thanks to the Myanmar Corridor, China has created an alternative to the B-China-India-Myanmar Corridor, which has reached an impasse due to its disputes with India. It is also important because ÇMEK will pacify the Strait of Malacca.

The China-Myanmar Economic Corridor consists of three main projects:

An oil and gas pipeline connecting Myanmar’s strategic port city of Kyaukpyu with China’s southern Yunnan state. (Complete)
Construction of an industrial park with textile, food and building material industries in the Free Trade Zone in Kyaukpyu. Also the development of an oil terminal in Kyaukphyu and the construction of a deep-sea port.
Construction of a railway connecting Kyaukpyu to Mandalay and then Kunming. (The suspended project is scheduled to be restarted.)

Of the 24 projects proposed by China under the CCT, only 9 have been accepted by the Government of Myanmar so far. The most important of these are: Kyaukpyu Special Economic Zone; the border trade areas of Myitkyina, Muse and Kanpiketi in Kachin and Shan provinces; It is a new city near Yangon and the Muse-Mandalay Railway Line, which will cover an area twice the size of Singapore.

Financing

In 2020, 60.5 billion dollars were invested within the scope of the Belt and Road Initiative, while 59.5 billion dollarsofinvestment was realized in 2021. In the year in question, no financing or investment was provided for projects in the field of coal. Financing and investments in the field of green energy amounted to 6.3 billion d and 6.4 billion dollars in the petrol sector. China’s financing and investments have expanded mostly to African and Middle Eastern countries. Iraq has been the largest beneficiary of China’s Belt and Road Initiative investments in 2021.

Between 2013 and 2022, the value of infrastructure projects financed by Chinese-owned banks reached about $890 billion in the countries participating in the Belt and Road Entry. China’s Belt and Enterprise’s largest financier bank is considered the “Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB)”. The other relevant Chinese financier bank is the YDevelopment Bank (NDB), or BRICS Bank, which is supported by the BRICS countries. The biggest lenders in these projects are China’s policy banks. These; It is the Export Bank of China (EXIM) and the Development Bank of China (CDB). These two banks are the biggest sources of finance for the Belt and Road Initiative projects.