China’s Global Infrastructure Push: A Decade of the Belt and Road Initiative
A drawbridge hummed under the glow of terminal lights at Peru’s Chancay port on a November evening. Containers moved swiftly between ships – a symbolic dance marking the launch of a major trade gateway and a testament to China’s ambitious Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).
Thousands of miles away, in Beijing’s Great Hall of the People, Chinese President Xi Jinping addressed the inauguration ceremony by video link, emphasizing the project’s transformative potential alongside Peruvian President Dina Boluarte. The Chancay port, a state-of-the-art facility built with Chinese investment and expertise, promises to slash sea freight time between South America and Asia by half.
This single project embodies the scale and ambition of the BRI, a decade-long effort to reshape global trade and connectivity through a vast network of infrastructure projects. Launched in 2013, the BRI has yielded a string of tangible achievements, connecting countries and fostering economic growth across continents.
An example is the Laos-China Railway, operational since 2021. This rail line, threading through Laos’ mountainous terrain, has shrunk travel times and opened new economic opportunities.
“With the railway, the mountain from Kunming to Vientiane is no longer high, and the road no longer long,” Chinese President Xi Jinping declared at the railway’s inauguration three years ago, words that resonate with Sommad Pholsena, Vice-President of the Lao National Assembly.
“The railway has created new investment opportunities in agriculture and industry and alleviated poverty for many Lao people,” Pholsena said.
From Southeast Asia to Europe, the BRI’s impact is evident.
The China-Europe freight train network has become a lifeline connecting Chongqing, China, with Duisburg, Germany, revitalizing regional economies and boosting industrial growth. Over 100,000 trains have traversed this network, carrying over 11 million containers worth more than $420 billion in goods.
"The initiative fosters regional growth by integrating logistics with trade, creating opportunities that improve livelihoods across nations," noted Volker Tschapke, honorary president of Germany’s Prussian Society.
The BRI’s reach extends far beyond physical infrastructure.
“The BRI has improved infrastructure and connectivity, created tens of thousands of jobs, and helped countries realize their shared vision of peaceful development, win-win cooperation, and common prosperity,” Thong Mengdavid, a lecturer at the Institute for International Studies and Public Policy of the Royal University of Phnom Penh, observed.
Expanding Partnerships
This vast infrastructure project has attracted growing global interest. More than 150 countries and 30 international organizations have signed Belt and Road cooperation agreements, extending the BRI’s reach from Eurasia to Africa and Latin America.
Brazil, for example, announced aligns its development strategies with the BRI during a recent meeting between President Lula da Silva and Xi Jinping.
Rui Costa, Brazil’s Chief of Staff, expressed high hopes for this partnership, believing it will unlock Brazil’s economic potential. “We have high expectations for the strategic alignment between our two countries, and believe it will further unleash Brazil’s economic vitality,” Costa stated.
Costa further emphasized the compatibility of Brazil’s development strategies with the BRI.
In 2018, Xi Jinping, addressing a symposium marking the BRI’s fifth anniversary, highlighted the broad global support for the initiative as a testament to developing nations’ desire for peace and development. "The BRI does not differentiate countries by ideology nor play the zero-sum game. As long as countries are willing to join, they are welcome," Xi said.
Since its inception, multiple countries and regions have synchronized their development strategies with the BRI, including Kazakhstan’s Bright Path economic policy, Mongolia’s Steppe Road Program, Saudi Arabia’s ‘Vision 2030,’ the Eurasian Economic Union by Russia, and the African Union’s Agenda 2063.
The Jakarta-Bandung High-Speed Railway, a flagship BRI project, exemplifies this synergy, dovetailing with Indonesia’s Global Maritime Fulcrum.
Veronika Saraswati, director of the Saraswati Institute and a China expert, believes this collaboration fully embodies the spirit of partnership based on equality and mutual benefit.
Global Impact
The BRI’s enduring principle, according to its architects, is to promote inclusive growth and development.
Observing the BRI, Lemmy Nyongesa Mulaku, a Kenyan expert on China-Africa relations, asserts that China’s development model aligns with the needs of African countries and has been widely welcomed. He praises China’s non-interference policy and its refusal to attach political strings to its aid.
Addressing the first session of the G20 Leaders’ Summit on Nov 18, Xi Jinping prioritized "pursuing high-quality Belt and Road cooperation" as one of China’s eight major contributions to global development.
Beyond trade and infrastructure, the BRI has embraced the Green Silk Road initiative, actively supporting participating countries in strengthening green development expertise.
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siru Ranaraja, a Sri Lankan international affairs expert and founding director of the Belt and Road Initiative Sri Lanka, asserts that the BRI’s commitment to green and sustainable development underscores China’s dedication to environmentally friendly growth, essential for the Global South’s sustainable modernization.
The BRI is fostering multilateral cooperation, advancing platforms for cultural exchanges such as the Liangzhu Forum and the Alliance for Cultural Heritage in Asia, deepenin global understanding of the Silk Road spirit.
Luis Antonio Paulino, director of the Confucius Institute at Sao Paulo State University, notes that the BRI’s focus on developing countries has become a crucial link connecting nations and promoting modernization within the "Global South.”
Looking ahead, the BRI’s trajectory reflects China’s desire to partner with nations worldwide in a spirit of shared development.
