Demystifying the Belt and Road Initiative: China’s domestic and non-strategic policy?
| DOI | 10.1177/20578911211038876 |
| Published date | 01 December 2021 |
| Date | 01 December 2021 |
| Author | Yuan Jiang |
| Subject Matter | Research articles |
Demystifying the Belt and Road
Initiative: China’s domestic and
non-strategic policy?
Yuan Jiang
Queensland University of Technology, Australia
Abstract
The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is a central policy of the Chinese government. The initiative is
directly associated with President Xi Jinping, who first put forward the BRI in Kazakhstan and
Indonesia in 2013, initially as One Belt One Road. Different from repetitive literature that con-
cludes the BRI as China’s global strategy, this article makes a contribution to argue that the BRI
is China’s domestic and non-strategic policy.
To justify this argument, this article analyses how the BRI has been embedded into aspects of
Chinese domestic policy by revealing its nexuses with Chinese domestic economy, politics and
ideology. To deepen the understanding of the BRI’s connection with the Chinese economy, this
article explores the link between the BRI and China’s supply-side structural reform. Meanwhile,
this research demystifies the BRI as a global strategy and the difference between joining and reject-
ing the BRI to prove the BRI’s non-strategic essence. In the end, this article discusses the BRI’s far-
reaching geopolitical influence.
Keywords
belt and Road Initiative, China, domestic policy, strategy
Introduction
The significance of the BRI
Within China, the BRI is widely acknowledged as the central diplomatic and economic policy of the
Chinese government. The initiative is strongly branded by President Xi Jinping, who first put
forward the BRI in Kazakhstan and Indonesia in 2013. The Database of Xi Jinping’s Important
Corresponding author:
Yuan Jiang, Queensland University of Technology, 149 Victoria Park Rd, Kelvin Grove QLD 4059, Australia.
Email: y40.jiang@hdr.qut.edu.au
Research article
Asian Journal of Comparative Politics
2021, Vol. 6(4) 468–481
© The Author(s) 2021
Article reuse guidelines:
sagepub.com/journals-permissions
DOI: 10.1177/20578911211038876
journals.sagepub.com/home/acp
To continue reading
Request your trial