ABSTRACT
In 2013, Xi Jinping, President of the People’s Republic of China, introduced the One Belt One Road (OBOR) Initiative to underpin the country’s increasing involvement in global supply chains (Map 32.1). Outlined by China’s National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC, 2015), this long-term international economic and political plan comprises both the New Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st-Century Maritime Silk Road. Now known as the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), this plan encapsulates the key development strategy that China has been pursuing for over a decade, which is intended to raise the world’s second-biggest economy’s profile as both a regional leader and a global power.
