China’s Belt and Road Initiative

Harinder S. Kohli is the Founding Director and Chief Executive of the Emerging Markets Forum as well as Founding Director, President, and CEO of Centennial Group International, both based in Washington, DC. He is the Editor of Global Journal of Emerging Markets Economies. Prior to starting his current ventures, he served over 25 years in various senior managerial positions at the World Bank. He has written extensively on the emergence of Asia, Latin America, Africa, and other emerging market economies, financial development, private capital flows, and infrastructure. He is an author and co-editor of India 2039: An Affluent Society in One Generation (2010), (2010), A Resilient Asia amidst Global Financial Crisis (2010), Islamic Finance (2011), Asia 2050: Realizing the Asian Century (2011), and A New Vision for Mexico 2042: Achieving Prosperity for All (2012). He led Centennial Group teams that helped ADB and CAF develop their long term corporate strategies. Mr. Kohli is currently leading a year-long EMF study on the long term prospects and challenges faced by emerging market economies worldwide. Please contact Prof Harinder Kohli atCentennial Group2600 Virginia Ave NWSuite 201. Washington D.C. 20037Email: harinder@centennial-group.com Johannes F. Linn is a Distinguished Resident Scholar at Emerging Markets Forum, Non-resident Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution, and Senior Fellow at the Results for Development Institute (R4D). In 2019, he served as the Global Facilitator for the First Replenishment of the Green Climate Fund. From 2005 to 2010, Mr Linn was Director of the Wolfensohn Center for Development at Brookings. In 2004, he was the lead author of the United Nations Development Program’s Central Asia Human Development Report, 2005. Prior to joining Brookings in 2003, he worked for three decades at the World Bank. From 1996 to 2003, Mr Linn was the Bank’s Vice President for Europe and Central Asia. Mr Linn has published extensively on development and global governance issues. His current research is in the areas of scaling up successful development interventions, global governance reform, and regional cooperation and integration (with a special focus on Central Asia and greater Eurasia).Leo M. Zucker has served as a Project & Research Associate of Emerging Markets Forum and Centennial Group International since July 2017. In this role, he has contributed to numerous research projects on topics such as infrastructure development, fiscal management, climate change, health care access, and international organizations. He holds a BSFS (hons.) in international political economy and French from Georgetown University’s Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service. His honors thesis measured how the effect of a corporate manager’s gender on firm performance varies across levels of economic development. Mr Zucker is currently working on an inside-out analysis of lending and investment by non-Paris Club countries, including China, in six African countries.

"This book, edited by Harinder S. Kohli, Johannes F. Linn and Leo M. Zucker, is perhaps the first attempt to carry out a comprehensive review of BRI in recent years …. (it) is an important addition to the BRI literature and a must read for scholars, practitioners and students."

• ForewordAcknowledgmentsIntroduction - Harinder S. Kohli, Johannes F. Linn, and Leo M. ZuckerAn economic perspective on the Belt and Road Initiative: Six years after its launch - Harinder S. Kohli and Leo M. ZuckerAn “inside-out” perspective on the impact of the BRI in Central Asia and the South Caucasus: Overview - Johannes F. Linn and Leo M. ZuckerThe Belt and Road Initiative: The case of Kazakhstan - Aktoty AitzhanovaThe Kyrgyz Republic and the Belt and Road Initiative - Roman MogilevskiiThe Belt and Road Initiative in Central Asia and the South Caucasus: A view from Tajikistan - Rustam Aminjonov and Matin KholmatovThe Belt and Road Initiative in Uzbekistan - Bahodir GanievThe Belt and Road Initiative in the South Caucasus region - Giorgi Khishtovani, Mariam Zabakhidze, Irakli Gabriadze, and Rezo BeradzeBuilding the Belt and Road: The impact on China and Central Asia - Biliang HuEuropean perspectives on the Chinese Belt and Road Initiative - Michael EmersonAn Indian perspective on the Belt and Road Initiative in Central Asia and the South Caucasus - Rajat M. NagChina’s Belt and Road Initiative and Japan, and its impact on Japan–Central Asia relations - Kiyoshi KoderaThe Belt and Road Initiative: A Russian perspective - Evgeny VinokurovUS perspectives on China’s Belt and Road Initiative in the South Caucasus and Central Asia - S. Frederick StarrConclusion and recommendations - Harinder S. Kohli, Johannes F. Linn, and Leo M. ZuckerReferences and notesPhoto credits