Xi clearly sees China’s considerable economic resources as a key tool in his efforts to maintain regional stability and assert China’s leadership in the country’s neighbourhood. We must build the Silk Road Economic Belt and 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, creating a new regional economic order.” We must encourage and participate in the process of regional economic integration, speed up the process of building up infrastructure and connectivity. “Maintaining stability in China’s neighbourhood is the key objective of peripheral diplomacy. He also said that he wanted to improve relations between China and its neighbours, strengthening economic ties and deepening security cooperation. Īt the Peripheral Diplomacy Work Conference, Xi said that China’s neighbours had “extremely significant strategic value”. It was attended by all of the most important players in the Chinese foreign policymaking process, including the entire Standing Committee of the politburo. It was reportedly the first major foreign policy meeting since 2006 and the first-ever meeting on policy towards neighbouring countries since the founding of the People’s Republic. In October 2013 Beijing convened an important work conference on what it termed ‘peripheral diplomacy’. Chinese policymakers see it as crucial to upgrading the country’s industry.īefore the 18th Party Congress in 2013, there were heated debates among Chinese policymakers and scholars about the strategic direction of the country’s foreign policy, especially in its neighbourhood. One of the least understood aspects of OBOR is Beijing’s desire to use this initiative to export China’s technological and engineering standards. It is more about migrating surplus factories than dumping excess products. The Chinese Government also wants to use OBOR as a platform to address the country’s chronic excess capacity. The initiative will have a heavy domestic focus. Beijing hopes its transnational infrastructure building program will spur growth in China’s underdeveloped hinterland and rustbelt. One of the overriding objectives of OBOR is to address China’s deepening regional disparity as the country’s economy modernises. However, this Analysis argues that some of the key drivers behind OBOR are largely motivated by China’s pressing economic concerns. There is no doubt that is part of Beijing’s strategic calculation. Many foreign policy analysts view this initiative largely through a geopolitical lens, seeing it as Beijing’s attempt to gain political leverage over its neighbours. It aims to strengthen Beijing’s economic leadership through a vast program of infrastructure building throughout China’s neighbouring regions.

China’s Belt and Road Initiative (also known as One Belt, One Road (OBOR)) is one of President Xi’s most ambitious foreign and economic policies.

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