The sun never sets on China\u2019s trade and infrastructure ambitions.<\/b>
\nThe sun never sets on China\u2019s trade and infrastructure ambitions.
With the addition of the Arctic and Latin America last week, Chinese President Xi Jinping\u2019s signature Belt and Road Initiative has become truly global. Only the U. S., its neighbor Canada and ally Japan have yet to be included in the plan, which seeks to build or upgrade a network of highways, railways, ports and pipelines.
China added the two regions — about 33.7 million total square kilometers (13 million square miles) — in the span of five days. First, Xi urged the creation of a\u00a0\u201cTrans-Pacific Maritime Silk Road\u201d in a Jan. 22 message to a gathering of leaders from Latin American and Caribbean countries. On Friday, China also announced a \u201cPolar Silk Road\u201d while unveiling its first white paper detailing an Arctic policy.
While it\u2019s unclear how much support the initiative might find in the new geographic regions, the expansion is the latest illustration of Xi\u2019s desire to play a greater global role as the U. S. turns more inward-looking under Donald Trump. As the U. S. president drafts a $1 trillion plan to overhaul America\u2019s aging roads and bridges, Xi\u2019s infrastructure-building endeavor is pushing into the U. S.\u2019s backyard.
Xi, seeking to avoid direct competition with Washington, has invited the U. S. to join the Belt and Road Initiative. Trump has not yet accepted the offer. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has expressed an interest in participating.
Even before this latest expansion, questions have swirled over the risk and necessity of Chinese investments linked with the Belt and Road Initiative. Still, the project — which China\u2019s ruling Communist Party wrote into its constitution — has only grown more ambitious since Xi first proposed restoring ancient Eurasian trade routes in 2013.
Here\u2019s how the initiative came to cover most of the globe:
\u2014 With assistance by Hannah Dormido<\/p>\n