The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is establishing significant connectivity networks, including a complex network of aviation e-services and trade network systems. It has promoted economic and financial development in regions covered by the BRI in terms of infrastructure construction and interconnection and attracted large foreign direct investment flows. At the bottom of the escalation of the China-US trade dispute is a more fundamental shift where China has become the US’s strategic competitor, and political-economic tensions have continued to climb. Opportunities and Challenges for Multinational Enterprises and Foreign Direct Investment in the Belt and Road Initiative analyzes the opportunities and challenges of multinational enterprises (MNEs) and cross-border foreign investments transactions. This valuable reference adopts an economic and international business perspective to address these issues and presents novel and state-of-the-art research insights into the role of MNEs and their influence on the Silk Road Economic Belt. Covering topics such as economic determinants, foreign direct investment promotion policies, and trade gravity model, this premier reference source is an excellent resource for business leaders and CEOs, policymakers, geopolitical experts, politicians, government officials, sociologists, libraries, students and educators of higher education, researchers, and academicians.
Officially announced by Xi Jinping in 2013, the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) has since become the centrepiece of China’s economic diplomacy. It is a commitment to ease bottlenecks to Eurasian trade by improving and building networks of connectivity across Central and Western Asia, where the BRI aims to act as a bond for the projects of regional cooperation and integration already in progress in Southern Asia. But it also reaches out to the Middle East as well as East and North Africa, a truly strategic area where the Belt joins the Road. Europe, the end-point of the New Silk Roads, both by land and by sea, is the ultimate geographic destination and political partner in the BRI. This report provides an in-depth analysis of the BRI, its logic, rationale and implications for international economic and political relations.
One of Chinese president Xi Jinping's signature foreign policy programs is the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), a web of infrastructure development plans designed to increase Eurasian economic integration. Chinese official rhetoric on the BRI focuses on its economic promise and progress, often in altruistic terms: all countries have been invited to board this "express train" to wealth and prosperity. Missing from the rhetoric is much discussion of the initiative's security dimensions and implications. Chinese officials avoid describing the strategic benefits they think the BRI could produce, while also gliding over major security risks and concerns. Yet at the unofficial level, China's security community has paid close attention to these issues, probing in great depth the gains Beijing can expect, the challenges it will face, and the new demands it will have to satisfy. Understanding those Chinese assessments is helpful as the United States considers how, when, and in what capacity to engage the BRI.
The level of outward foreign direct investment (OFDI) flows from ASEAN countries has increased rapidly in past two decades. This book examines OFDI trends and patterns in the ASEAN region including the impact of the ASEAN Economic Community. It also provides analyses of country policies affecting OFDI and the drivers of OFDI in Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Vietnam. Myanmar is studied as an investment frontier for other ASEAN countries. span, SPAN { background-color:inherit; text-decoration:inherit; white-space:pre-wrap } “The dynamic economies of Southeast Asia have historically been very large recipients of foreign direct investment (FDI). As global capital markets have opened up, and these economies have developed their technological and commercial capabilities, in more recent years Southeast Asia has emerged as a significant source of outward FDI both within the region and beyond. This important volume, by a group of leading regional scholars, offers a timely, comprehensive, accessible and authoritative analysis of this phenomenon.” -- Hal Hill, H.W. Arndt Professor of Southeast Asian Economies, Arndt-Corden Department of Economics, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University “A timely, rich and comprehensive study filling a major gap in the literature on the increasingly important phenomenon of foreign investment flowing out from regions including developing and middle-income countries.” -- Luke Nottage, Professor of Comparative and Transnational Business Law; Associate Director, Centre for Asian and Pacific Law at the University of Sydney
"The rapid international expansion of Chinese businesses has evoked mixed perceptions in host countries and among policymakers. This volume brings together rigorous studies on the motivation, background, strategy, and impact of Chinese outward foreign direct investment and the emergence of Chinese multinational enterprises (MNEs). It is thus informative for the next wave of academic research on Chinese and emerging market MNEs in international business, political economy, economic geography and political sciences. Together with an original introduction by the editors, this valuable collection provides an important backdrop for academics who intend to understand emerging market MNEs in order to advise policymakers"--
Infrastructure is essential for development. This report presents a snapshot of the current condition of developing Asia's infrastructure---defined here as transport, power, telecommunications, and water supply and sanitation. It examines how much the region has been investing in infrastructure and what will likely be needed through 2030. Finally, it analyzes the financial and institutional challenges that will shape future infrastructure investment and development.
China proposed the Belt and Road Initiative in 2013 to improve connectivity and cooperation on a transcontinental scale. This study, by a team of World Bank Group economists led by Michele Ruta, analyzes the economics of the initiative. It assesses the connectivity gaps between economies along the initiative’s corridors, examines the costs and economic effects of the infrastructure improvements proposed under the initiative, and identifies complementary policy reforms and institutions that will support welfare maximization and mitigation of risks for participating economies.
Bringing together a collection of interdisciplinary chapters on China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI, or also known as One Belt One Road), this book offers a comprehensive overview of the topic from a business and management perspective. With contributions from scholars based in Asia, Europe and North America, Volume I provides theoretical and empirical analysis of the opportunities and challenges facing businesses in relation to BRI. Key areas covered include economics and finance, history, trade, value chain and human resource and cross-cultural management, creating a useful tool for academics, as well as policy-makers and practitioners in China and other countries along the new Silk Road.
Prior to the initiation of economic reforms and trade liberalization 36 years ago, China maintained policies that kept the economy very poor, stagnant, centrally-controlled, vastly inefficient, and relatively isolated from the global economy. Since opening up to foreign trade and investment and implementing free market reforms in 1979, China has been among the world's fastest-growing economies, with real annual gross domestic product (GDP) growth averaging nearly 10% through 2016. In recent years, China has emerged as a major global economic power. It is now the world's largest economy (on a purchasing power parity basis), manufacturer, merchandise trader, and holder of foreign exchange reserves.The global economic crisis that began in 2008 greatly affected China's economy. China's exports, imports, and foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows declined, GDP growth slowed, and millions of Chinese workers reportedly lost their jobs. The Chinese government responded by implementing a $586 billion economic stimulus package and loosening monetary policies to increase bank lending. Such policies enabled China to effectively weather the effects of the sharp global fall in demand for Chinese products, but may have contributed to overcapacity in several industries and increased debt by Chinese firms and local government. China's economy has slowed in recent years. Real GDP growth has slowed in each of the past six years, dropping from 10.6% in 2010 to 6.7% in 2016, and is projected to slow to 5.7% by 2022.The Chinese government has attempted to steer the economy to a "new normal" of slower, but more stable and sustainable, economic growth. Yet, concerns have deepened in recent years over the health of the Chinese economy. On August 11, 2015, the Chinese government announced that the daily reference rate of the renminbi (RMB) would become more "market-oriented." Over the next three days, the RMB depreciated against the dollar and led to charges that China's goal was to boost exports to help stimulate the economy (which some suspect is in worse shape than indicated by official Chinese economic statistics). Concerns over the state of the Chinese economy appear to have often contributed to volatility in global stock indexes in recent years.The ability of China to maintain a rapidly growing economy in the long run will likely depend largely on the ability of the Chinese government to implement comprehensive economic reforms that more quickly hasten China's transition to a free market economy; rebalance the Chinese economy by making consumer demand, rather than exporting and fixed investment, the main engine of economic growth; boost productivity and innovation; address growing income disparities; and enhance environmental protection. The Chinese government has acknowledged that its current economic growth model needs to be altered and has announced several initiatives to address various economic challenges. In November 2013, the Communist Party of China held the Third Plenum of its 18th Party Congress, which outlined a number of broad policy reforms to boost competition and economic efficiency. For example, the communique stated that the market would now play a "decisive" role in allocating resources in the economy. At the same time, however, the communique emphasized the continued important role of the state sector in China's economy. In addition, many foreign firms have complained that the business climate in China has worsened in recent years. Thus, it remains unclear how committed the Chinese government is to implementing new comprehensive economic reforms.China's economic rise has significant implications for the United States and hence is of major interest to Congress. This report provides background on China's economic rise; describes its current economic structure; identifies the challenges China faces to maintain economic growth; and discusses the challenges, opportunities, and implications of China's economic rise.
