Understanding China’s Grand Strategy through the Belt and Road Initiative

Gadde Omprasad

International Studies, 2024, vol. 61, issue 2, 170-184

Abstract: China’s transition from a country striving for self-reliance in the 1950s to the world’s dominant power in the 2020s is remarkable. The economic and foreign policies it followed during various phases of development helped the country to achieve the targets and goals that it set up for itself. The ambitious Belt and Road Initiative by President Xi Jinping to rebuild old Silk routes and to build new connectivity projects containing road, rail and sea transport corridors are a part of China’s Grand Strategy of achieving self-sufficiency of up to 70% in advanced technology sectors by 2025 and reaching a preeminent position in the world by 2049. This includes protecting security interests as well as the flow of energy resources required for a steady progress. The article provides an overview of China’s progress and plans from Mao’s regime to Xi Jinping’s presidency. In the process, it explains China’s changed priorities, interests and how foreign policy changed according to the changing economic policies.

Keywords: International politics; geopolitics; BRI; PLA; overcapacity; grand strategy; self-reliance; foreign policy (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:intstu:v:61:y:2024:i:2:p:170-184

DOI: 10.1177/00208817241247665

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