Yidài Yilù, the ”one belt, one road”. That’s the name of the mastodontsatsning as China opened six years ago. The plan is that with the huge investment – so far, 8.000 billion ploughed down – on infrastructure on land and sea linking China with south-east Asia, Middle east, Africa and Europe. Never before has a country invested so heavily in infrastructure abroad. So far, China has written 170 contracts with 125 countries. Many of them are poor. But even the european countries with scant economic participation, such as Hungary and Greece. And China hope that even more join.
The New silk road, which the project is usually called in Sweden, is something of a älsklingsprojekt of the president Xi Jinping. By linking the entire world closer to China, should he be the one who gives the land back to its former glory as a world power.
have been welcomed in the poor countries that are in urgent need of investment and improved infrastructure. Here, they see a chance to boost its economy and climb a few steps in the välfärdstrappan. In recent times, however, an increased skepticism labelled. The projects are expensive, and leads in some countries to a dramatic increase in public debt. In addition, they implemented often by chinese workers and will, therefore, not to create jobs.
Meanwhile, the rich world since the start suspected that China has a hidden agenda with the New silk road. The real goal is to take over the world, they argue, and point to the risk that countries överbelånar and in the end forced to hand over strategic assets to China when they can’t pay. The loans given by chinese state banks. This puts the ownership into chinese hands when a country is unable to pay the interest rate. For example, Sri Lanka has been forced to give up ownership of an important port to China due to the country överbelånade.
Now try the China to counter the negative image. At a summit meeting on the new silk road in Beijing at the weekend was the chinese president Xi Jinpings message clearly directed toward critics. He promised increased transparency about how China is financing its projects and stated that they should be financially sustainable.
” Everything should be made in a transparent way and we have zero tolerance when it comes to corruption, said Xi Jinping ahead of the 37 world leaders gathered in Beijing.
China to hold summit on its mastodontprojekt the New silk road. 37 leaders are in place, including Russian president Vladimir Putin. Photo: Jason Lee/AFP
of suspicions that China’s goal is to take over ownership of the world’s major crossroads, he promised to the country in the future will take into account a country’s total debt burden and payment options before bets linked to the New silk road is carried out. In the message was also a hope that foreign investors will be attracted to participate in the project.
Xi Jinping reiterated that the new routes are green bets that take into account the climate. But even here, China has encountered criticism. Environmental organisations have pointed out that China through closer ties with the poor countries also have gotten them to import cheap coal from China. Chinese companies are involved in at least 240 coal project in the 25 countries participating in the New silk road, according to a report from the environmental organization Global Environment Institute. Thus continue to China to be an environmental villain, despite the fact that they implemented improvements on the home, claim the critics.
did several prominent leaders, including the Russian president, Vladimir Putin. But also european leaders that Greece’s prime minister Alexis Tsipras and Italy’s Giuseppe Conte participated. Both countries, as well as several countries in Eastern europe signed on to participate in the New silk road, which divides the EU. Germany has so far been sceptical. Minister Peter Altmaier said to Reuters that the EU should act jointly vis-à-vis China and not conclude bilateral agreements. The view Germany, with France, Spain and the united kingdom, according to Altmaier.
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