Motivation behind China’s ‘One Belt, One Road’ Initiatives and Establishment of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank

The ‘One Belt, One Road’ (OBOR) initiatives form the centerpiece of the Chinese leadership’s new foreign policy. The OBOR initiatives are a reflection of China’s ascendance in the global arena, economically, politically, and strategically. Developing inter-connectivity of infrastructure development forms a central part of China’s OBOR initiatives. The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) aims to facilitate and accelerate infrastructure improvement in the region by providing capital loans and technical services. The AIIB will serve as the spearhead of China’s OBOR initiatives. The AIIB and OBOR initiatives have put China at the center of geoeconomics and geopolitics in the region and beyond, a position from which it hopes to strengthen its economic ties with other Asian countries. The new Silk Road initiatives also provide a channel for Chinese companies and capital to invest in other countries by leveraging China’s strengths in infrastructure development, financial power and manufacturing capacity. The OBOR initiatives and the AIIB could change the economic and political landscape of Asia, the most dynamic and economically vibrant region of the twenty-first century. However, China faces serious challenges, both internally and externally, in implementing these initiatives.