At a forum in Beijing, President Xi Jinping recently promised more than $23 billion in funding to Arab states, including aid to Palestine, Syria and Yemen. China also projects importing $8 trillion from Arab states until 2025 and it is exploring free-trade deals with each of the 22 members of the Arab League. Separately, Poland hosted a forum on the Three Seas Initiative that aims to connect the Arctic with the Black Sea, focusing on the new Via Carpathia that should smoothen links across Eastern Europe. A Chinese port company signed an MoU with the Slovenian port of Koper.
China’s BRI refers to an overland “belt” and a maritime “road”, but in fact, it consists of six overland economic corridors and several maritime routes. Interestingly, recent projects point to further geographical extensions. The Arabian Peninsula, for instance, did not feature prominently in earlier versions (whereas adversary Iran did), but China is currently focusing on the region. Furthermore, Eastern Europe was connected through Russia earlier, along the New Eurasia Land Bridge, but recent projects in the Balkans point to new connections that run south of Russia.
As China is creating a future infrastructure, it is following ancient paths. During the Chinese Tang dynasty (618-907), for example, the Silk Road was largely about Sino-Arab trade. An even more important feature of that ancient period is also reemerging: In Eurasia, cooperation and rivalry often develop simultaneously. As opposed to the steady alliances we’ve seen since the Cold War, more fluid arrangements are emerging. Eurasian countries will hedge their bets by creating multiple connections in trade, energy and transport, so they do not become dependent on another country. Such a strategy will bring a great amount of excess infrastructure.
