China's Grand Strategy: The New Silk Road

China's new president Xi Jinping is proposing a new "Silk Road" as China grows, and prospers into the #1 world economic power. A new silk road is being proposed; the last Silk Road was a trade route which stretched from China to Africa. This new Silk Road has a global twist with more of an emphasis on European markets.

Backed by massive financial investments coming from the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank and the Silk Road Fund, "the Silk Road Economic Belt", first announced on the occasion of a visit in Kazakhstan six months after Xi Jinping became China's President, and "the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road" are symbols of 21st century China and constitute for the Eurasian actors a historical opportunity.

Some observers can point out that Beijing's renewed focus on the Eurasian continent can be seen, in geopolitical terms, as an answer to the U.S. pivot to Asia initiated by the Obama administration, however, the New Silk Road should not be interpreted as a tactical scheme to counter other forces, it simply complements "a new type of major-power relationship" which characterizes the China/U.S. bilateral relations.

The People's Republic of China, soon the world's largest economy, is aware that with power comes responsibility -- and vice versa. In a sense, the New Silk Road can be understood as a Marshall Plan with Chinese characteristics, it reassures the Middle Country's neighbors, contributes to their growth and places them in a system designed by Beijing.

Things are getting interesting as the World's power shifts hands from West to East. Xi Jinping stresses cooperation amoung World powers with China as the lead, and if they can achieve this, it will be a positive. Times are a-changing....What says ATS?

www.huffingtonpost.com...

China's emerging market is huge and predicted to grow enormously within the next decade. China's innovation and technology has been largely localized until now but entering such a market they have undercut the competition and provided reliable tech that have American manufacturers so furious they've added tariffs to Chinese products in the last couple years to protect local markets. China has effectively taken industrial available goods and benchmarked the price into consumer lifestyle.

The only problem is instead of paying back loans for their business operation costs, the Chinese companies are using profits for expansion and undermining blowback from relevant markets that have been doing horrible such as oil, ending up needing more loans from Chinese government even though companies are prosperous.

China also investing heavily in future-proven technology that will change the economy significantly

Meanwhile in the US, presidential candidates are still debating "clean coal." The innovation is abit, lacking, atleast from a political standpoint.

If this continues, China will indeed be the next superpower and North Americans will be left behind under a veil of propaganda that still makes us think they are not capable of obscene gains even with just Russian interrelations. The 2 biggest countries in the world, right next door. Who needs America who is under her illusion of being on top of everyone else anyway?

a reply to: lostbook

F&S& Very interesting development. Wondering how much of this is actual, and how much sales pitch. From your link:

Fully embraced by the European Union and other Eurasian actors, the New Silk Road will take 65 percent of the world population toward an unprecedented level of cohesiveness and prosperity.

Following the "China Dream" mainly articulated for the Chinese people, Xi Jinping proposes a humanistic vision of progress which goes beyond national interests, based on China's own experience of material development and inspired by the Chinese sense of universalism, Da Tong, or Grand Harmony, the New Silk Road is "Eurasia's Dream", a dream we can pursue together.

David Gosset is director of the Academia Sinica Europaea at China Europe International Business School (CEIBS), Shanghai, Beijing & Accra, and founder of the Euro-China Forum.

???

a reply to: lostbook

Good maybe we will see a reemergence of the competitive spirit in America.

a reply to: lostbook

When I first saw the headline I envisaged an Internet takeover. Wrong silk road and not alibaba. lol

Fully embraced by the European Union and other Eurasian actors, the New Silk Road will take 65 percent of the world population toward an unprecedented level of cohesiveness and prosperity.

I'm sorry but ...
If it hadnt have been for world war one and world war two and the british empire this level of cohesiveness and "prosperity" would have been completely precedented. Only now we see the world internationally according to post world war brainwashing, so something completely natural become unprecedented. What you should really read by the use ofnthat word "unprecedented" is not accordong to our plan". Its nothing new, the eurasian continent has always been cohesiveness the nature of our cultural identities demonstrate that in abundantly.

Maybe this is why they built ghost cities in Africa?

Don't underestimate the Chinese.

They don't have all the red tape bull# we do they can actually do things that make sense and change things when they don't.

Italy should think thrice before attempting to do their bait and switch little trick with China, they may be in for an ugly surprise ...

How's that high-speed maglev rail-line, from China to Europe, coming along?

Folks in china are learning to work hard.

USA folks are lazy. I think this is the decline of the USA.

Our people have gotten lazy. Too much gov. free stuff.

We have allowed our children to feel they don't have to work for a good life.

We always want better for our children.

I think we have messed up doing that.

a reply to: lostbook

I was surprised to learn that China is actually overtaking the U.S. in a big way when it comes to E.U. imports. I believe only 12% of our import come from the U.S.

This week I learned they are investing in Italian seaports to create this new silkroad. I believe Genova and Triest are sceduled for an overhaul.

Peace

Found the article about thsoe Italian ports...

Italy may be ready to open up four ports to Chinese investment under ‘Belt and Road Initiative’

Peace