The Belt and Road Initiative and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development:seeking linkages for global environmental governance

Global environmental cooperation serves as an important part in the Chinese ideal of building a Community with a Shared Future for all Human Beings. The report of 19 th CPC National Congress indicates that China is committed to proactive mitigation under the Paris Agreement and further participating in global environmental governance under the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and both of which are largely integrated to the Belt and Road Initiative(BRI). BRI are also closely linked with South-South environmental and climate cooperation proposed by China from previous UN summits. Based on shared ideas, intersected agendas, and compatible governance approaches, BRI and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development grow increasingly relevant and they might form synergies based on increasingly interactive relations. In sum,seeking and intensifying the linkages between BRI and 2030 sustainable development goals(SDGs) could address global environmental governance deficits and enhance cooperation among nations.

The"Belt and Road"Initiative:A Chinese Concept for Global Development

China＇s ＂Belt and Road＂ initiative is emerging as the Western-dominated world order is declining. Capitalism has intensified the rich-poor divide and power politics have led to great upheavals. Western values have caused a ＂value dislocation＂ for non-Western countries. The world is calling for new development concepts. The ＂Belt and Road＂ initiative has emerged as an answer. It embodies China＇s ideas on global development. First, it works for the ＂common prosperity＂ of every country, which will ease contradictions between the South and the North. Second, it emphasizes geo-economie integration that will heal the fragmentation of Eurasia. Third, it advocates linkages between people and inclusiveness to create a new kind of civilization. However, many difficulties and challenges lie ahead for the implementation of the ＂Belt and Road＂ initiative.

The Contribution of the Belt and Road Initiative to the World's Right to Development

The Belt and Road Initiative makes an important contribution to the right to development in theory and practice in the current world. Since the reform and opening-up, the Chinese government puts the rights to subsistence and development before any other human rights, which effectively guarantees and accelerates a rapid economic development in China. Nowadays, countries along the Belt and Road have joined a "community of common destiny". Inside the "community of common destiny," countries have enjoyed not only the responsibility, rights and benefit of the right to development, but also a win-win cooperation that ensured the right to development. Therefore, the Belt and Road initiative enriches the UN Declaration on the Right to Development, and "community of common destiny" of countries becomes a higher form of the right to development.

The Interactive Development of China’s Retail Industry “Going global” Strategy in the Context of the Belt & Road Initiative

Helping China’s retail industry to "go global" and get actively involved in global value chain competition is an effective way to improve the international competitiveness of China’s retail industry and an important measure to enhance the Chinese manufacturing industry’s position in international markets. The Belt and Road Initiative is China’s national strategy providing guidance for strategic decision-making for China’s retail industry in terms of overseas target market selection, market access selection and overseas investment risk management. As such, efforts should be made to maximize the interactive development of China’s retail industry through the strategies outlined in the Belt and Road Initiative.

The Status Quo, Opportunity and Approach——the Development of Ethnic Minorities in the Context of the Belt and Road Initiative

Currently, China is advancing the Belt and Road Initiative, which creates a new opportunity of historical significance and provides guidance for the economic and social development of ethnic minority communities(particularly those in western China). Under the new historical conditions, it is necessary to innovate and improve China's regional aid policies and regional development strategies such as the "pairing assistance" and the Western Development, and organically combine them with the Belt and Road Initiative. In the meantime, China should revolve tightly around the internal and external "connectivity," and give full play to the functions of the "pairing assistance" policy and the "Western Development" strategy in a bid to boost the ethnic development of contemporary China within the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative.

Contributing More Chinese Wisdom to the Belt and Road Initiative:Exploration and Practice of the China Region Development & Reform Institute

As the"Belt and Road"is gaining ground with higher quality,China’s think tanks have played a unique role in facilitating policy communication,enhancing people-to-people connectivity and promoting practical cooperation,and have contributed a lot of"Chinese wisdom"to the development of BRI.

Belt and Road Initiative and Realization of the Right to Development

The Belt and Road Initiative not only represents a new blueprint for realizing the right to development, but also provides a realistic approach and a possible solution for it. With clear goals and paths, the Belt and Road Initiativ e serves as a model for SouthSouth cooperation to promote development. Under the background of China’s economic progress, given China has the strong political will, adequate financial resources, and advanced technology to advance the initiative it will prove to be reliable driver of development. With the joint efforts of China and relevant countries, the Belt and Road Initiative will greatly promote the right to development of countries along the routes.

“Belt and Road Initiative” promotes textile industry to create new international development advantages

On September 7th,Sun Huaibin,vice president of China National Textile and Apparel Council,made a speech with the theme of''Belt and Road Initiative' and the development of China's textile industry',to discuss the harvest and direction of China's textile industry under the background of 'Belt and Road Initiative',in the warming-up section of 2017 the the 2nd China(Zhengzhou)International Futures Forum.

The Dissemination and Development of Chinese Medicine in Pakistan

The article focuses on the dissemination and development of Chinese medicine in Pakistan.Religious records show that Chinese medicine was introduced to Pakistan as early as 1,400 years ago,while Hijama(Chinese cupping)was used by Prophet Hazrat Muhammad to cure different types of diseases.Exchanges and cooperations between China and Pakistan continue to the present day.Acupuncture and moxibustion therapy,cupping therapy and herbal medicine are practiced with significant merits in today’s Pakistan.In the future,with the proposal of the Belt and Road Initiative and the landmark project of China-Pakistan Economic Corridor,Chinese medicine can be strengthened through cooperations at the herbal medicine trade level,the research and development level,the educational level,and the social association level.

Evaluation of the sustainable development level of countries along the Belt and Road and its impact factors:Empirical analysis based on the Super-efficiency slacks-based measure and Tobit measure models

Sustainable development is an important component of the Belt and Road Initiative(BRI)and is of great significance for evaluating the levels of sustainable development of countries along this route(henceforth,BRI countries).Therefore,this study aims to identify the factors that influence the levels of sustainable development of BRI countries in a reasonable and objective manner.Eventually,this study employs the super efficiency slacks-based measure(Super-SBM)model,which considers unexpected outputs to measure the level of sustainable development of BRI countries.The dynamic change and composition of the sustainable development level of these countries are calculated using the global Malmquist-Luenberger index.Furthermore,the Tobit model is used to identify the factors influencing the level of sustainable development of BRI countries in general and in various categories.The empirical results suggest the following points.(a)The overall level of sustainable development of BRI countries is low,whereas those of high-income and middle-and high-income countries are relatively high.(b)The overall sustainable development levels of BRI countries declined to a certain extent in 2008 owing to the effect of the financial crisis,.However,the sustainable development level of other countries,barring low-income countries,has gradually increased since 2011.(c)Since 2008,technological progress has replaced technical efficiency as the main driving force behind the improvement of the sustainable development level of BRI countries.(d)A U-shaped relationship is observed between the economic and sustainable development levels of these countries.(e)The level of science and technology and the proportion of renewable energy consumption can promote the sustainable development of these countries.Moreover,a negative correlation exists between the level of opening to the outside world and that of sustainable development of countries that mainly export resource-based products and are dominated by labor-intensive export industries.Barring low-income countries,the energy structure plays an effective role in improving the level of sustainable development.Finally,the study presents suggestions for China in the process of coping with the sustainable development of relevant countries during its promotion of the BRI.

Comprehensive Disaster Risk Prevention of "the Belt and Road Initiative":Important Significance,Catastrophe Risk,International Cooperation and Strategic Countermeasure

"The Belt and Road Initiative"is major decision proposed by the CPC Central Committee with comrade Xi Jinping as the core co-ordinating the domestic and international overall situations,and concerns peaceful rise of China and extension of the strategic opportunity period of modernization construction.It needs multi-faceted safeguards to successfully impel"the Belt and Road Initiative",in which disaster risk identification and its effective prevention and control are indispensable links.By integrating geogeographic and atmospheric environmental factors,countries along"the Belt and Road Initiative"belong to frequent occurrence region of major natural disasters.It restricts not only the economic and social development of relevant countries but also implementation effect of"the Belt and Road Initiative"construction,and is also related to the success or failure of Chinese enterprises going out to a certain extent.It should enhance disaster prevention and mitigation and ensure safety of major infrastructure construction related to interconnection of"the Belt and Road Initiative"by disaster identification and prevention,which is the key of successfully impelling strategy implementation and major need for guaranteeing the people s livelihood of the countries along the line.The work of disaster prevention and mitigation in the countries along the line is generally weak,and it is urgent to raise the level of disaster prevention as a whole by promoting the disaster prevention and mitigation cooperation in the"the Belt and Road Initiative"area;improve the coverage and level of disaster risk insurance;enhance construction in monitoring and early warning capability of natural disaster;strengthen structural adjustment of economy,industry and land use responding to climate change risks;establish a comprehensive disaster reduction forum of"the Belt and Road Initiative",and contain relevant content in"the Belt and Road Initiative"series of high-end forum topics.

Evaluation of Sustainable Infrastructure in the Context of the Belt and Road Initiative:A Case Study of Kenya C12 Road Reconstruction Project

Sustainable development presents a challenge to most countries involved in the Belt and Road Initiative(BRI).Given the importance of infrastructure as a key aspect of the BRI,it is of great importance to investigate sustainable infrastructure in BRI countries.This paper explores how infrastructure meets the criteria of sustainable development and promotes sustainability.However,existing evaluation frameworks are not target-oriented,systematic,and practical.To fill this gap,we provide the framework based on the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and apply it to the evaluation of the C12 Road Reconstruction Project.We find that the project promotes local sustainable development as a whole but has negative effects in some respects.In addition to excellent project management,the project still can improve public communication and local integration.In terms of policy implementation,we suggest summarizing the successful business model and promoting top-down and multi-dimensions designs.

The Transition of Belt and Road Initiative from 1.0 to 2.0:Challenges and Implications of Green Development

China claims that the Belt and Road Initiative is a cross-regional comprehensive initiative covering the economy,social and environmental pillars.When it was first proposed,it identified five main areas which call for cooperation priorities,i.e.policy coordination,interconnection of facilities,unimpeded trade,financial integration and people-to-people bond.Scholars globally are focusing on the development of the Belt and Road Initiative as it has gone through several development stages.The Belt and Road Initiative initially focused on economic development,equal dialogue and cultural interchange between the Belt and Road Initiative partners and China,and now it has added the concept of green development.This paper reviews the Belt and Road Initiative documents since 2013 and analyses the changes of environmental policies in the Belt and Road Initiative,aiming to identify the challenges and implications of green development.The outcome of this paper provides insight into how the Belt and Road Initiative can contribute towards sustainable development with its partner countries.

Counteraction to China?Impact of the U.S.International Development Finance Corporation on China’s Development Finance

The United States passed the Better Utilization of Investment Leading to Development(BUILD Act),as a counterweight to China’s overseas development activities.Under the Act,the US established a new federal agency,the U.S.International Development Finance Corporation(DFC),to enhance U.S.development financing capabilities.To better understand the impact of the DFC on China’s development finance,this article analyzes the DFC’s purpose,functions,structure,and funding.Then it focuses on the purpose of establishing the DFC,providing a preliminary analysis of the potential motivation for its establishment.It also compares the China Development Bank(CDB)and the DFC based on their focused sectors.Finally,through an in-depth analysis of financial frictions in China-U.S.relations,this article argues that the DFC competes with China’s overseas development financing activities in the context of broader strategic competition between China and the U.S.

Historical Exchanges and Future Cooperation Between China and Oman Under the ＂Belt ＆ Road＂ Initiativ

Oman, located at the southeastern comer of the Arabian Peninsula, enjoys a geological advantage in history so that it has been the irreplaceable path to maritime routes since the ancient time. Oman and China have started large-scale communications in maritime civilizations through the vast Indian Ocean in Han Dynasty, and the exchanges reached the peak in Tang Dynasty. These exchanges gradually declined with the rise of Western navigation industry. Since the founding of the modem nation-state system, the People＇s Republic of China （PRC） and Muscat regime in Oman have some conflicts in diplomacy. The relations between two nations, however, began to improve after the mid-1970s, and the formal diplomatic relations was established in 1978. Since then, both countries have enjoyed rapid development in the fields of politics, culture and particularly in economics. China and Oman became important regional economic and trade partners. Whether seen from the perspective of historical contacts or the trend of present economic development, the One Belt and One Road Initiative （OBOR） has providing a golden opportunity for cooperation between China and Oman, at the same time, this initiative has received active response from Oman. In general, China and Oman＇s cooperation is a typical model in the Middle East, and two countries have made many cooperation achievements under OBOR, such as the China-Oman Industrial Park in Duqm. There are also some investment risks either on micro level or macro level, which require more attention from both government and enterprises of China.

Ecological Carrying Capacity and Green Development in the “Belt and Road” Initiative Region

Since the 1970s,resource crisis,environmental pollution and ecological degradation have become prominent globally,and the limits to growth have always been an important theoretical and policy issue.The technological system of early warning and regulation based on carrying capacity evaluation has great potential in natural resource utilization,environmental management and ecosystem conservation.In this paper,the evolution of carrying capacity research and the concept of ecological carrying capacity are summarized,and the existing evaluation methods of ecological carrying capacity are classified into ecological footprint method,comprehensive index system method,ecosystem service analysis method and human appropriation of net primary productivity method.The current problems in ecological carrying capacity study were analyzed and the trend was outlooked.Combined with the special issue,the recent proceeding of ecological carrying capacity study in the Belt and Road Initiative(BRI)region was narrated,from the aspects of ecological carrying capacity evaluation method and application,the supply and consumption of ecosystem services,and the resources use and environment change.Some suggestions have been proposed to improve the accuracy and reliability of ecological carrying capacity evaluation:1)the spatial heterogeneity and temporal dynamic change of ecological carrying capacity should be explored furtherly;2)the interaction between ecological process and human activities should be simulated;3)factors such as climate change,human activities and ecological products and ecological service flows should be integrated into the evaluation system of ecological carrying capacity.

Incorporating the Istanbul-Ankara high-speed railway into the Belt and Road Initiative:Negotiation,institutional alignment and regional development

This article contributes to a small but growing body of multi-sited and multi-scalar research on the Belt and Road Initiative.We focus on relations at the national,regional and international scales,and present original research from China and Turkey,to show how the Istanbul-Ankara high-speed railway has served as a testing ground for China's Belt and Road Initiative(BRI).Its construction was initially funded by the European Investment Bank,but it is now part of the backbone of the Turkish Government's Middle Corridor plan which enhances west-east connectivity and integration with the Caucasus and Central Asia.We show that in contrast to multinational corporations from the OECD that seek to remain footloose,Chinese state-owned enterprises(SOEs)seek to adapt to,apprehend and ultimately shape local institutions.In the case of Turkey this proved difficult given its institutional alignment with the European Union.Thus,while the railway project was completed successfully by a consortium led by a Chinese SOE,Turkey's dynamic and complex regulatory environment discourages Chinese SOEs in the infrastructure sector.We conclude that the Turkish and Chinese governments are currently pursuing complementary territorial visions yet their cooperation is project-based and pragmatic.

China’s BRI Transportation Investments:Development Bonanza or Debt Trap?

Based on the China Global Investment Tracker(CGIT)database of 2005-2018,this paper creates a country-sector-year panel set for a study on the BRI’s investment effects on the transportation sector of BRI countries using the difference-in-differencesin-differences(DDD)method.Our study finds that the BRI has significantly increased transportation investments by Chinese companies in the BRI countries without causing significant rise in problem transactions.The"debt trap"narrative that the BRI aims to take control over host countries’sovereign rights in exchange for debt write-offs is not supported by evidence.Discussions on sub-samples reveal that the BRI has mainly propelled SOEs in making transportation investments to generate development effects in host countries,most of which are Asian countries,and that the preferred mode of investment is cross-border M&As.

US-China Competition in International Development Assistance

China and the US differ sharply in their models of international development assistance. Because the US strengthens development assistance as a strategic investment, it has a privileged position under current international rules. China has expanded in regional markets using more cooperation and is there recreating the rules in trade, investment and infrastructure. To deal with China’s policy on international development,the Trump administration is promoting a geoeconomic game and trying to make its US model more attractive. This gives a glimpse into how the US has begun a systematic balancing. International development assistance has been a security tool,and now becomes the main battlefield of competition between the two countries.

中国与“一带一路”共建国家文化贸易成效、挑战与对策

加强与共建国家的文化贸易是中国推进共建“一带一路”倡议、促进文化开放发展的重要内容。自共建“一带一路”倡议提出以来,中国政府高度重视与共建国家的文化贸易发展,持续推进文化市场改革开放,深化文化交流与合作,强化制度、资金等多方面保障。当前,中国与共建国家的文化贸易取得了突出成效,总体目标方针与具体任务部署更加明确、合理,地方特色更加凸显,基地建设、项目投资取得新进展,中国与共建国家之间的文化产品贸易规模和顺差显著扩大,多个产业的文化产品输出取得了突破。然而,中国与共建国家的文化贸易受到内外部多方面因素的影响,面临文化差异等挑战。新发展阶段,中国要更加重视文化发展、加强区域协调联动、强化理论研究与实践,传承、弘扬中华文明,以高度的文化自信推动与“一带一路”共建国家文化贸易的高质量发展。