China's Belt and Road Initiative: Future bonanza or nightmare?

The first-ever freight train from Britain to China departs from DP World London Gateway's rail freight depot in Corringham for a mammoth journey along a modern-day "Silk Road" to Yiwu on April 10, 2017. PHOTO: AFP
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Xi Jinping's signature Belt-and-Road Initiative (BRI) has attracted a great deal of global attention.

The United States and some European Union countries are apprehensive that the BRI signals China's attempt to dominate the two-thirds of the world's population, and 40 percent of global trade, accounted for by BRI countries.

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