What is China Belt and Road Initiative (BRI)

China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), also known as the New Silk Road, is one of the largest infrastructure projects ever planned. Started in 2013 by President Xi Jinping, this extensive set of development and investment efforts was initially created to connect East Asia and Europe with physical infrastructure. Over the past ten years, the project has grown to include Africa, Oceania, and Latin America, greatly increasing China's economic and political power. Some experts view the project as a worrying sign of China’s growing influence, and as costs for many projects have soared, opposition has increased in several countries. At the same time, the United States, along with some Asian nations, is concerned that the BRI could be a way for China to expand its military presence and control in the region. President Joe Biden has kept a cautious approach towards Beijing's activities, but the U.S. has found it difficult to present a more attractive economic alternative to countries involved in the initiative.

The original Silk Road began during the Han Dynasty of China (206 BCE–220 CE), which created trade networks across what are now the Central Asian countries of Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan, as well as present-day India and Pakistan to the south. These routes stretched over four thousand miles to reach Europe.

Central Asia was the center of one of the earliest waves of globalization, linking eastern and western markets, generating great wealth, and blending cultural and religious traditions. Valuable Chinese goods like silk, spices, and jade traveled west, while China received gold, ivory, and glass items in return. The use of these routes reached its height during the first millennium, under the Roman and then Byzantine Empires, as well as during the Tang Dynasty in China (618–907 CE). President Xi announced the initiative during official visits to Kazakhstan and Indonesia in 2013. The plan had two parts: the overland Silk Road Economic Belt and the Maritime Silk Road. Initially called the One Belt, One Road initiative, it later became known as the Belt and Road Initiative.