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  • There's a new highway in Pakistan.

  • And a new rail terminal in Kazakhstan.

  • A sea port in Sri Lanka recently opened.

  • As well as this bridge in rural Laos.

  • What's interesting is that they're all part of one country's project that spans

  • 3 continents and touches over 60% of the world's population.

  • If you connect the dots, it's not hard to see which country that is.

  • This is China's Belt and Road Initiative -- the most ambitious infrastructure project in modern

  • history that's designed to reroute global trade.

  • It's how China plans to become the world's next superpower.

  • It's 2013 and Chinese president, Xi Jinping

  • is giving a speech in Kazakhstan where he mentions the Ancient Silk Road:

  • A network of trade routes that spread goods, ideas, and culture across Europe, the Middle

  • East, and China as far back as 200 BC.

  • He then says:

  • "we should take an innovative approach and jointly build an economic belt along the Silk

  • Road" A month later, Xi is in Indonesia:

  • "The two sides should work together to build a maritime silk road for the 21st century"

  • These two phrases were the first mentions of Xi's legacy project, the multi-trillion

  • dollar Belt and Road Initiative, or BRI.

  • They're also the two components of the plan.

  • There's an overland Economic Belt of 6 corridors that serves as new routes to get goods in

  • and out of China.

  • Like this railroad connecting China to London.

  • And these gas pipelines from the Caspian sea to China

  • And a high-speed train network in South East Asia.

  • Then there's the maritime silk road -- a chain of seaports stretching from the South

  • China Sea to Africa that also directs trade to and from China.

  • The BRI also includes oil refineries, industrial parks, power plants, mines, and fiber-optic

  • networks - all designed to make it easier for the world to trade with China.

  • So far, over 60 countries have reportedly signed agreements for these projects.

  • And the list is growing, because China promotes it as a win-win for everyone.

  • Take, for example, the BRI's flagship project: Pakistan.

  • Pause for Pakistan Like many countries in Central and South Asia,

  • Pakistan has a stagnant economy, and a corruption problem.

  • It wasn't a popular place for foreign investment, that is until China came along.

  • In 2001, China offered to build a brand new port in the small fishing town of Gwadar.

  • By 2018, the port as well as highway and railway networks became a $62 billion dollar Corridor

  • within the BRI.

  • It's where the Economic Belt meets the Maritime Silk Road.

  • And it seemed to benefit both countries.

  • Pakistan saw its highest GDP growth in 8 years and forged a tight relationship with a major

  • world power.

  • China, on the other hand, secured a new alternative route for goods, especially, oil and gas from

  • the Middle East.

  • Through projects like these, it also found a way to boost its economy.

  • Chinese construction companies that had fewer opportunities within their own country saw

  • a huge boost from BRI contracts — 7 out of the 10 biggest construction firms in the

  • world are now Chinese.

  • What tips the balance in China's favor even more is a requirement that it be involved

  • in building these projects.

  • In Pakistan for example, Chinese workers have directly built projects, like this highway

  • here, and a Chinese firm has worked with locals on a railway here in Serbia.

  • China's involvement is one of its very few demands and that's set these deals apart

  • so far.

  • See, typically, to get investment from the West, countries have to meet strict ethical

  • standards.

  • But China's offered billions of dollarsmostly in loanswith far fewer conditions.

  • So, it's no surprise the BRI has been a big hit with the less-democratic countries

  • in the region.

  • China has signed agreements with Authoritarian governments

  • Military regimes.

  • And some of the most corrupt countries in the world.

  • It's even affiliated with, Afghanistan, Ukraine, Yemen, and Iraq; all currently splintered

  • by conflict.

  • Because of China's willingness to loan money to unreliable countries, many experts have

  • called the BRI a risky plan.

  • Eventually, these countries will have to pay China back -- but corruption and conflict

  • make that payback unlikely.

  • A recent report found that many countries indebted to China are vulnerable, including

  • 8 that are at high risk of being unable to pay.

  • So why does China keep lending?

  • Because there's more to the BRI than just economics:

  • In Sri Lanka, China loaned about 1.5 billion

  • dollars for a new deep-water port.

  • It was a key stop on the Maritime Silk Road.

  • But by 2017 it was clear Sri Lanka couldn't pay back the loan, so instead, they gave China

  • control of the port as part of a 99-year lease.

  • China also controls the strategic port in Pakistan - where it has a 40-year lease, It's

  • pushing for a similar agreement in Myanmar, and it just opened an actual Chinese naval

  • base in Djibouti.

  • These are all signs of what's called the String of Pearls theory.

  • It predicts that China is trying to establish a string of naval bases in the Indian Ocean

  • that will allow it to station ships and guard shipping routes that move through the region.

  • So while China's not getting its money back, its still achieving some very important strategic

  • goals.

  • China's growing influence challenges the status of the US, which has been the world's

  • lone super-power for the last several decades.

  • Isolation is trending in the US meaning it's investing less and therefore losing influence

  • around the world.

  • The BRI is China's way of leveraging power to become a global leader.

  • By building relationships and taking control of global trade, China is well on its way.

There's a new highway in Pakistan.

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