We are living in a world that is more divided than at any time since the fall of the Soviet Union. Some people warn that the dawn of a new cold war looms. The US has shown a fervent desire to retreat from multilateralism, by withdrawing — or threatening to withdraw — from international treaties and organisations, while unilaterally initiating a global trade war . By doing so, the US is in effect relinquishing its leadership in global governance.

Meanwhile, China has learnt, in the wake of the global financial crisis, that overdependence on the west in trade and economy is dangerous; it needs to enhance co-operation with non-western nations. As a result, China has become increasingly active internationally, promoting some influential agendas — among which the Belt and Road Initiative, which was announced in 2013, is the most significant.

BRI is a grand programme to finance and build infrastructure in Asia, Africa, Europe and beyond. There are more than 65 economies along its route — mostly developing countries. Some people have compared BRI to the Marshall Plan, a flagship US aid programme that helped to reconstruct western Europe from 1948 to 1952. They fear the BRI will serve as a geopolitical instrument for China to build an alliance of beneficiary countries to confront the west.