BRI - Five Years Down the Road

On September 7, 2013 President Xi Jinping first announced China’s One Belt, One Road initiative at Nazarbayev University, Astana, Kazakhstan. The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), as it has come to be known, is creating two new trade corridors – one overland, the other by sea – which are connecting China with its neighbours in the west: Central Asia, the Middle East and Europe. In so doing it is redefining global trade routes and with it shifting the epicentre of global power from west to east.

The initiative is about building networks of connectivity by developing infrastructure connections (rail, road, sea), energy pipelines (oil, gas) and economic corridors (trade, investment) that will connect China via Central Asia and the South Caucasus to Europe.

At the four-year milestone, we can examine BRI's impact:

• What key projects have been implemented and what are the implications of these for the Chinese economy?
• Is BRI delivering on key initiatives in Central Asia and the South Caucasus?
• What have China and countries along the road learned since BRI inception in terms of financing, economic and social impact, environmental implications?
• What projects are in the pipeline?
• Are there opportunities for Swiss companies to participate in specific projects or use the new linkages to advance their business activities in the region?
• How can Swiss and EU companies avail themselves of procurement opportunities on BRI projects ?