An organizational model and border port hinterlands for the China-Europe Railway Express

Facilities connectivity is a priority area for implementing the Belt and Road Initiative(BRI). The "China-Europe Railway Express"(CER Express) mode of transport organization links China with Europe by fast-track cargo rail. A major instance of facilities connectivity related to this project is an important practical and symbolic instance of BRI transport cooperation. The strategic significance of the CER Express and a number of operational issues are outlined, as are the implications of limited market potential for costs and competitiveness. A "hub-and-spoke" organizational model that can generate scale economies and reduce costs is proposed. To examine the establishment of an organizational model of this kind, the economic hinterlands of Alashankou, Erenhot, and Manzhouli are identified under high-, mediumand low-cost scenarios using an analytical methodology that determines distance and economic costs, and a number of transport hubs(that include Harbin, Zhengzhou, and Lanzhou) are identified. The results found that the cost of the routes from 314 Chinese cities to Moscow is the lowest via Manzhouli in the high-and medium-cost scenarios, but the routes change via Erenhot in the low-cost scenario. A number of policy recommendations should follow up.

Infrastructure Finance under the Framework of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI)

Infrastructure connectivity is one of the cooperation priorities of the Belt and Road Initiative(BRI).The construction and improvement of infrastructure means a large amount of investment as well as lots of risks.This study tries to gauge the funding needs for the countries along the Belt and Road for infrastructure investment to maintain a relatively rapid economic growth.To make it convenient for analysis,this study only projects the appropriate infrastructure investment demand of 65 countries along the Belt and Road that have relatively complete GDP statistics in recent years.And the projection result is the total appropriate infrastructure investment demand is expected to be about US$11.5 trillion between 2017 and 2021.To overcome the challenges and attract more funds to meet the large-scale infrastructure investment demand of the BRI countries,it is critical to improve the infrastructure investment environment in the region.Besides governments’functions of improving investment environment,the role of private investors is of equal importance as market rules and international norms are followed in the process of facilities connectivity construction of the BRI.