HONG KONG ¨C Chinese President Xi Jinping¡¯s tenure has been marked by high ambition. His vision ¡ª the ¡°Chinese dream¡± ¡ª is to make China the world¡¯s leading power by 2049, the centenary of communist rule. But Xi may be biting off more than he can chew.
A critical element of Xi¡¯s strategy to realize the Chinese dream is the ¡°One Belt, One Road¡± (OBOR) initiative, whereby China will invest in infrastructure projects abroad, with the goal of bringing countries from Central Asia to Europe firmly into China¡¯s orbit. When Xi calls it ¡°the project of the century,¡± he may not be exaggerating.
In terms of scale or scope, OBOR has no parallel in modern history. It is more than 12 times the size of the Marshall Plan, America¡¯s post-World War II initiative to aid the reconstruction of Western Europe¡¯s devastated economies. Even if China cannot implement its entire plan, OBOR will have a significant and lasting impact.
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