China continues to develop plans to implement its New Silk Road policy. Specifically, Beijing recently maneuvered to inject approximately $62bn USD into state-controlled “policy banks” in order to further development of the planned trade route. The strategy outlined by the Chinese government includes significant amounts of infrastructure development throughout the region, as well as already-implemented…
Over the weekend, China unveiled its newest foreign policy initiative: the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) a multilateral development bank headed by Beijing to provide financing for Asian projects. The AIIB is a clear rival to Western-headed development banks such as the IMF, the World Bank, and the Asian Development Bank, which are all popularly…
China officially launched a behemoth $79.8 billion infrastructure project in its northwestern province of Gansu. The project, while beginning in Gansu, a region of China that shares no land borders with any Central Asian nation, is merely the starting point for a series of large infrastructure development projects which will encompass much of Central Asia.…
Chinese President Xi Jinping has announced the planned investment of $16.3 billion USD in a New Silk Road policy championed by Beijing. The intention of reviving the old route is historically significant for China, as it did and will serve as the linchpin of the route upon its completion. The vast majority of the funds will be…
Afghan President Ashraf Ghani arrived in Beijing yesterday to begin meetings with his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping. The recently inaugurated Ghani’s first official trip abroad as Afghanistan’s leading statesman will consist primarily of talks on the future of relations between the two countries. Ghani has made explicit his desire to strengthen relations with Afghanistan’s eastern…
Chinese investment in Tajikistan over the next three years will be equivalent to nearly two thirds of the Central Asian nation’s total GDP in 2013. Chinese presence in Central Asia has grown in stride with China’s own economic growth, though ties with Tajikistan in particular have strengthened as Beijing sees an opportunity to capitalize on…
Conflicts between ethnic Han Chinese and the Uyghurs, a Turkic minority that has historically inhabited the province are expected to continue as the regional Chinese government announced the closing and subsequent “rescuing” of children from religious schools. The closing of schools not sanctioned by the local government has seen the removal of over 190 children…
