"Our take on the Third Belt and Road Forum" 24 October 2023

After a pandemic-induced hiatus, the Third Belt and Road Forum took place on 17-18 October in Beijing. It provided rare insight into China and member countries’ aspirations for the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) as it enters its second decade...

So, what announcements were made? And what are the signals for the future direction of the BRI?

In a closing speech, Xi Jinping gave an overview of the forum’s outcomes and his vision of the BRI’s future. It contained a blizzard of announcements, ranging from opening up greater market access to China, to a new global initiative on governing AI. Perhaps most notably, Xi indicated a doubling down on the BRI as a promoter of large-scale, debt-financed infrastructure...

There was an emphasis on green development at the forum, including a high-level dialogue on greening the BRI...

Kenya’s President William Ruto called for greater investment in energy, transport and industrial infrastructure...Nigeria, meanwhile, sought funding for new projects. Deals were signed for $2 billion worth in the country... While no doubt discussed on the side lines and at bilateral meetings, debt distress was notably missing from official communications between African leaders and China...

From green BRI to blue BRI, the Third Belt and Road Forum for the first time included a special thematic forum on ocean cooperation. It concluded with the unveiling of a new “Blue Cooperation Initiative” that laid down principles on how China could cooperate on ocean-related projects with BRI nations.

...Representatives from small island developing states, including the Solomon Islands, Seychelles, Maldives, also attended the session, which involved discussing cooperation on coastal adaptation.