No Chinese initiative has been lapped up so eagerly since Chairman Mao’s Little Red Book inspired millions across the globe in the 1960s. This time the proponents of the “One Belt, One Road” slogan are not young idealists but suit-clad and normally more sobersided politicians, bank analysts and economists.
One Belt, One Road is a Chinese foreign policy initiative promoted by president Xi Jinping and sometimes known as China’s answer to the Marshall Plan (although Beijing rejects that analogy).
The numbers are impressive: $40bn from the new Silk Road Fund, to support private investment; not to mention the lion’s share of the expected $100bn to be dispersed from the new China-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB).