International Relations Essay Example - China Global Strategy: One Belt, One Road

Globalization is one of the most potent drives for economic growth. According to McKinsey Global Institute (MGI) research the movement of goods, services, data, finance and human resource across the borders adds to gross domestic product (GDP) value and also fuels global growth and development. Consequently, several nations across Asia, Africa, Europe and America have opened their borders to facilitate free movement of goods and services in their economy. China has turned to be one of the primary beneficiaries of globalization hitting a double-digit national GDP in the mid-2000s driven by the fast movement of goods in and out of its borders. For instance, between the year 2000 and 2016 its export surged from $257 billion to $2.4 trillion. Today, China is the worlds leading exporter and intends to construct strong infrastructural links to interconnect the nation with the rest of the world. The New Silk Road commonly known as One Belt, One Road (OBOR) initiative is among the link launched by President Xi Jinping in 2013. The OBOR grand global strategy gives China a considerable potential influence in several political, cultural, economic and strategic realms worldwide.

Chinas Role in the Globalizing World

A few decades ago, China launched an economic reform as a way of transforming the country and its global productivity. At speed no one would have predicted, China today has generated a rapid growth becoming one of the biggest ranked economies in the world (Woetzel et al. 2017). As a result, China has therefore developed a platform where they conveniently push for dynamic and determined foreign policies due to their influence in the global economic sector. Likewise, the Chinese government has managed to improve its political affiliation with many countries strengthening their bilateral relationship in several fields and industries. Subsequently, through their economic and political advancement, China has demonstrated a convention and soft type of power whereby it promotes its national and regional interests through diversifying their culture and ideologies in the global arena. As a result, the neighboring nation continues to benefit from Chinas foreign policies especially on infrastructures and multilateral market growth.

Over the years, Chinas role in the international arena which is characterized by sophisticated structures, advanced technology, high level of innovation, multiple brands and skilled workforce has been gradually evolving. In fact, today it is difficult to figure out a global problem that could be resolved satisfactorily without Chinas involvement. In the effort to promote development, China has come up with several initiatives such as one belt, one road to resolve the global infrastructure gap and impact Chinas strategic, diplomatic and economic relations with the rest of the world. The OBOR project gives China an opportunity to take both regional and global leadership role in steering development and economic growth worldwide.

Additionally, China is establishing themselves as a development hub. The foreign policies and projects financed by China in the overseas are not only a way of earning global influence but also an opportunity to create greater cooperation between China and the international markets. One of the primary aspects of Japan and American directed globalization is their approach to subvert and destroy developing nations traditions and cultures hindering them from gaining dominance. However, China has no aim of changing the native culture of globalization as distinctive corporate principles should prevail regardless of the nation at the helm of development (Woetzel et al. 2017). Therefore, China plays an essential part in ensuring that Asia, Africa and Europe have excellent deals governed by cooperation.

The One Belt, One Road Initiative

More than 2000 years ago, Silk Road which was a trade route connecting China to Central Asia and the Arab world was established by envoy Zhang Qian. The network was named after silk which was Chinas principal export at the time (Griffiths, 2017). Providentially, the road stimulated development in the entire region compelling the Chinese government to reconsider their foreign policies which were initially security oriented. In 2013, President Xi Jinping proposed the establishment of One Belt, One Road project, an equivalent modern network of roads, pipelines, railways, telecommunication systems and other utility grids connecting Asia, Africa and Europe. The OBOR initiative was not only meant to facilitate a physical connection but also to create the worlds most extensive economic cooperation which would include trade, financial, and policy collaboration as well as social and cultural solidarity across over sixty countries.

The One Belt, One Road has two main elements with a solid aim of promoting development and prosperity across infantile parts of China and developing nations. The Silk Road Economic Belt is the land-based component of OBOR program aimed at linking China with Central Asia, Eastern and Western Europe (Griffiths, 2017). One of the initial objectives of the Silk Road Economic Belt is building the Eurasian land bridge a logistic chain connecting Eastern coast in China to Western Europe. The Eurasian land bridge is also known as Second or New Eurasian Continental Bridge which runs from the port of Lianyungang to Rotterdam in Europe. The bridge is expected to become a primary passageway from China to Europe and should be cheaper than air route and faster than sea transport. China has also involved countries such as Poland, Kazakhstan and Russia to reduce the cost of customs clearance along the network.

The 21stCcentury Maritime Silk Road, on the other hand, is a sea route running from the Eastern coast of China to Europe via the Indian Ocean and South Pacific Sea. The network objective is to build an efficient transport route among essential ports in various countries (Griffiths, 2017). The economic corridor through the Indian Ocean provides a better connection between China and the Middle East, Africa and South Asia. Therefore, together the road and the belt would manage to the advantage of international transport routes as well as core ports and cities strengthening collaboration and building other international economic cooperation corridors. Some of these passages include the China-Central Asia-West Asia Economic Corridor running from Xinjiang in China to Arabian Peninsula via Mediterranean coast and West and Central Asia railway networks. Other passageways include China Mongolia-Russia Economic Corridor and one from China to Pakistan.

Beneficiaries of the One Belt, One Road Initiative

The primary beneficiaries of the OBOR project are the Chinese with the network anticipated to serve two vital economic objectives for the country. Initially, the initiative was meant to create demand overseas for the Chinas excess capacity increasing their export potential (Woetzel et al. 2017). Recently, the rate of growth in China has been decreasing with the need of some of their primary products such as cement, silk, aluminium and steel falling in the domestic market. The difficulties in maintaining rapid investment growth have been linked to massive local government debt meaning that the excess capacity cannot be fully utilized domestically. Likewise, strengthening and expanding the trading relations with large block countries in the Middle East, Africa, Asia and Europe support the transformation and efforts by the government to replace the domestic investment economic model that is no longer productive as expected.

Due to the contemporary situation in China the level of employment and per capita income has decreased leaving millions of Chinese engulfed in poverty. However, the OBOR program has increased demand for these materials abroad especially among those countries benefiting from this network. Most of the economic corridors are already underway, and some of these elements are probably prerequisite in the Chinese sponsored infrastructure and construction projects along the silk route. Consequently, this has created employment to the Chinese in the manufacturing and production companies raising their living standard. Also, the Chinese administration has managed to convince collaborating countries through mutual consent that some of the workforces in the construction sites have to come from China. Exporting Chinas infrastructural know-how in the global market open an opportunity for Chinese companies extend their performance beyond the national borders. Subsequently, this has created different jobs for the vast Chinese population who are expected to exercise their skills, creativity, technology and construction experience in some of this infrastructure development projects.

The OBOR benefits extended beyond the Chinese boundaries. In fact, the program was launched at a time when Asia was in need of infrastructures estimated at $8 trillion to connect the continent to the rest of the world. The belt and road enterprise ushered in a new era of globalization in Asia. Today, Asians can work in China and other regions due to the connection between Atlantic and Pacific which has promoted global economic growth in the sector. Among the primary beneficiaries of the connectivity in Asia are Kazakhstan, Singapore, Malaysia, Pakistan, and Lebanon among other countries. Recently, Japan who had distanced themselves from the provided development assistance and loans embraced the ideology. Since Japan is an industrialized country, it is likely to be involved in the project based on the general terms of investments among the member states which would as well boost its economy.

On the other hand, Africa has been snubbed for long. During the first several centuries of extensive contact which coincided with European age of discovery and industrialization, the African continent seemed a helpless entity characterized with creating suffering. However, in the onset of the 21st century, China discovered the full potential in Africa incorporating it in its long-term strategic program. The inclusion of Africa in the OBOR framework has brought momentum to Chinas economic cooperation with Africa (Sun, 2017). China intends to foster the growth of African countries and relocate some of its labour-intensive industries in Africa. In fact, Africa is full of natural resources and vast untapped market which have not been exploited due to poor infrastructures. The partnership between China and Africa has been stable due to the OBOR initiative which has seen the African Union sign a memorandum of understanding in 2015. The agreement would spearhead the connection of fifty-four African countries through transport infrastructures.

According to Young Sinologist Program in Beijing, Africa has already started benefiting from OBOR project through rail and road infrastructures. For example, approximately $4 billion has been spent on a railway connecting Djibouti and Addis Ababa which was the first transnational electric railway line in the continent (Sun, 2017). Another rail is under construction which would link Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Also, efforts to transfer labour-intensive industries have created job creation whereby the model is offering a Chinese training program and hires African workers. Some of the publicized businesses include Hisense electronic manufacturing industry in South Africa and Huajians shoe factory in Ethiopia.

In Europe, the OBOR program has extended south-east European area starting from investment in Piraeus one of the significant ports in Greece. The region has embraced the geopolitical development with some of the European Union member states creating leverage for acquisition and infrastructure innovation on an unprecedented...