Belt and Road

English

Alternative forms

• Belt and Road Initiative (official translation)
• One Belt One Road (formerly used name)

Etymology

Calque of Chinese 一帶一路 / 一带一路 (yīdàiyīlù, literally “one belt one road”). Belt refers to overland corridors and Road to maritime shipping lanes.

Proper noun

Belt and Road

1. Ellipsis of Belt and Road Initiative.: a development strategy adopted by the Chinese government involving infrastructure development and investments in countries in Europe, Asia and Africa.
   • 2017 May 12, Tom Phillips, “The $900bn question: what is the Belt and Road initiative?”, in The Guardian‎^[2]:

     “It is a very confusing name,” admits Peter Cai, the author of a recent report about Belt and Road, who blames China’s propaganda-focused state media for failing to properly explain the concept to the world. “There is still a lot of confusion about what the Belt and Road initiative is and what it actually entails.”

   • 2017 May 12, Eric Baculinao, “Belt and Road Initiative: China Plans $1 Trillion New 'Silk Road'”, in NBC news‎^[3]:

     Belt and Road can "solve global woes," according to state-run Global Times newspaper. "The ambitious plan is not empty talk," the official Xinhua News Agency declared, highlighting that China has already invested more than $50 billion in 20 countries along the routes

   • 2017 May 13, Jane Perlez, Yufan Huang, “Behind China’s $1 Trillion Plan to Shake Up the Economic Order”, in New York Times‎^[4]:

     “Russia’s elites’ high expectations regarding Belt and Road have gone through a severe reality check, and now oligarchs and officials are skeptical about practical results,” said Alexander Gabuev, senior associate at the Carnegie Center in Moscow.

   • 2018 December 18, Karim Raslan, “2018 was meant to be Xi Jinping’s year. Then China’s Belt and Road unravelled”, in South China Morning Post‎^[5]:

     First off, the Belt and Road has failed. It has become the object of relentless criticism, if not ridicule: across the globe, projects have been attacked as overvalued and disconnected to the developmental needs of host countries. Indeed, they are mired in corruption, incompetence and skewed to China’s strategic interests.

   • 2018 December 19, Maria Abi-Habib, “China’s ‘Belt and Road’ Plan in Pakistan Takes a Military Turn”, in New York Times‎^[6]:

     Chinese officials have repeatedly said the Belt and Road is purely an economic project with peaceful intent. But with its plan for Pakistan, China is for the first time explicitly tying a Belt and Road proposal to its military ambitions — and confirming the concerns of a host of nations who suspect the infrastructure initiative is really about helping China project armed might.