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China’s BRI at 10: The journey continues, but has it outlived its purpose?
The Belt and Road Initiative has grown since its inception, but it has also suffered setbacks and undergone rebranding along the way. Meanwhile, the framework for President Xi Jinping’s foreign policy ambitions has expanded.
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The pace of BRI lending has slowed since around 2016 as both Chinese state lenders and recipient countries have exercised greater caution.
PHOTO: AFP
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In 2013 during a visit to Kazakhstan, Chinese President Xi Jinping unveiled an ambitious plan to revive an ancient 9,000km overland trade route linking China to Central Asia, the Middle East and Europe that began during the Han Dynasty in the 2nd century BC.
To complement the Silk Road Economic Belt, another network called the Maritime Silk Road was proposed by Mr Xi in Indonesia that year, to run from China’s east coast to Europe through the South China Sea, Indian Ocean and the Suez Canal.
