The Belt and Road and a New Model of International Development Cooperation

Abstract

Introduced by President Xi Jinping in 2013, the Belt and Road is China’s new initiative on international business and foreign affairs, in order to promote mutual political trust, economic integration and cultural inclusion among countries along the Belt and Road by enhancing connectivity, infrastructure and trade. For many of those Asian and European countries, the low economic development levels and backwards infrastructures are impeding their economic growth. This new type of international development corporation, in the short-term, can create jobs and stimulate growth for them, and improve their economic growth potential in the long run. This changes the development assistance by “blood transfusion” from developed countries to the new development cooperation mode of “blood generation”. The infrastructure construction in developing countries also contributes to global economic recovery, which benefits both the developing and developed world, making it a new win-win mode of international development cooperation.