Enhancing connectivity of rules under the Belt and Road Initiative

ABSTRACT

As the co-construction of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) enters a new decade, promoting ‘soft connectivity’ of rules has become a crucial component of building the initiative with high quality. This paper first reviews the accomplishments of ‘soft connectivity’ of rules under the BRI. Then, the paper examines and envisions the future enhancement of ‘soft connectivity’ of rules under the BRI, offering basic ideas and paths for advancement. In terms of basic development thinking, it is essential to implement four overall plans: overall planning for the government and enterprises, for multilateral and bilateral relations, for developed and developing countries, and for external and internal relations.

KEYWORDS:

• Belt and Road Initiative
• rules
• soft connectivity

JEL CLASSIFICATION:

• F02

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1. This work is supported by the National Social Science Foundation of China (21BGJ028).

2. See, for example, the white paper ‘Building the “Belt and Road”: Major Practice in Building a Community with a Shared Future for Mankind,’ published by the State Council Information Office in September 2023; the document ‘The Vision for Building the “Belt and Road” in the Next Decade’ released by the National Development and Reform Commission in November 2023.

3. Memorandum of Understanding between the Government of the People’s Republic of China and the Government of the Republic of Poland on Jointly Promoting the ‘Belt and Road’ Initiative.

4. See Xi Jinping’s speech at the Third Symposium on the Belt and Road Initiative. November 19, 2021. http://www.gov.cn/xinwen/2021–11/19/content_5652067.htm

5. For example, China and ASEAN signed the Nanning Declaration on Health Cooperation and Development between China and ASEAN in 2016 and the Initiative on Establishing Digital Economy Partnership between China and ASEAN in 2020.

6. The Lancang-Mekong Water Resources Cooperation Ministerial Meeting and Forum, the Lancang-Mekong Water Resources Cooperation Joint Working Group, the Lancang-Mekong Water Resources Cooperation Center, etc.

7. It includes the objectives, principles, key areas of water resources cooperation, as well as the cooperation mode and institutional arrangement, etc.

8. For example, the US-led ‘Indo-Pacific’ economic framework (IPEF) has obvious geopolitical competition characteristics and attempts to establish an economic system that excludes China and counters China.

9. For example, the United States is vigorously promoting high-standard US-style digital economic rules with ‘cross-border free flow of data’ as the core. However, the cross-border free flow of data may deprive many developing countries with weak digital capabilities of the opportunity for local industry development, affecting their social and economic development.

10. Details of indicator selection, data source, and measurement methods can be found in Li Yuan, ‘Supporting Win-Win Situation: China’s Plan for the Soft Connectivity of Rules of the BRI,’ Beijing: Economic Science Press, 2023.