ROME (Reuters) - Italy endorsed China’s “Belt and Road” infrastructure project on Saturday, the first Group of Seven industrialized power to do so, as Rome brushed off worries among its Western allies in a bid to revive the flagging Italian economy.

The signing ceremony was the highlight of a three-day trip to Italy by Chinese President Xi Jinping, which has boosted ties between the two nations at a time when the United States is locked in a trade war with China.

The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is aimed at bolstering Beijing’s economic and political reach. However, critics say it is a Trojan Horse that will let China get control of sensitive technologies and critical infrastructure.

Italy’s populist government, anxious to encourage exports and investment as the economy suffers its third recession in a decade, has played down such worries and gave Xi a red-carpet welcome normally reserved for its closest allies.

Chinese and Italian firms signed 10 additional deals, including in the energy, steel and gas pipeline sectors.

Full details of the contracts were not immediately revealed, but a government source said they could potentially be worth up to 20 billion euros ($22.62 billion).

Italian media put the value at around 5 billion euros.

Deputy Prime Minister Luigi Di Maio, who also serves as industry minister, signed the Belt and Road memorandum of understanding with China’s He Lifeng, chairman of the National Development and Reform Commission.

They were flanked by Xi and Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte. The Chinese president is due to fly to the Sicilian city Palermo later on Saturday for a private visit before heading to Monte Carlo and then France on Sunday. </s> Italy endorsed China’s ambitious “Belt and Road” infrastructure plan on Saturday, becoming the first major Western power to back the initiative to help revive the struggling Italian economy.

Saturday’s signing ceremony was the highlight of a three-day trip to Italy by Chinese President Xi Jinping, with the two nations boosting their ties at a time when the United States is locked in a trade war with China.

The rapprochement has angered Washington and alarmed some European Union allies, who fear it could see Beijing gain access to sensitive technologies and critical transport hubs.

Deputy Prime Minister Luigi Di Maio played down such concerns, telling reporters that although Rome remained fully committed to its Western partners, it had to put Italy first when it came to commercial ties.

“This is a very important day for us, a day when Made-in-Italy has won, Italy has won and Italian companies have won,” said Di Maio, who signed the memorandum of understanding on behalf of the Italian government in a Renaissance villa.

Taking advantage of Xi’s visit, Italian firms inked deals with Chinese counterparts worth an initial 2.5 billion euros ($2.8 billion). Di Maio said these contracts had a potential, future value of 20 billion euros.

The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) lies at the heart of China’s foreign policy strategy and was incorporated into the ruling Communist Party constitution in 2017, reflecting Xi’s desire for his country to take a global leadership role.

The United States worries that it is designed to strengthen China’s military influence and could be used to spread technologies capable of spying on Western interests. </s> ROME (AP) – Italy signed a memorandum of understanding with China on Saturday supporting Beijing’s “Belt and Road” initiative, which aims to weave a network of ports, bridges and power plants linking China with Africa, Europe and beyond.

With the move, Italy becomes the first member of the Group of Seven major economies, which includes the United States, to join the Belt and Road program, following Portugal’s embrace of the initiative in December.

Italian Premier Giuseppe Conte and Chinese President Xi Jinping attended a ceremony in Rome where 29 separate protocols of the memorandum were signed by both governments in front of the flags of China, Italy and the European Union.

Luigi di Maio, the Italian minister of economic development, told reporters afterward that his country’s goal is to increase exports to China in order to correct trade imbalances and boost Italian businesses and the country’s troubled economy. He said the value of the individual deals signed on Saturday amounts to 2.5 billion euros ($2.8 billion), with the potential to grow to 20 billion euros ($22.6 billion)

“Our goal with these accords is to start to rebalance an imbalance for which there is a lot of ‘Made in China’ coming to Italy and too little ‘Made in Italy’ that goes to China,” Di Maio said.

He said Italy now expects “a substantial and gradual increase of exports and we hope that in the next years we can balance out the trade imbalances.”

Italy’s move appears to also be driven by hopes that Chinese investment in Italy’s ports might help revive the country’s traditional role as a key link in trade between the East and West.

The signed accords are wide-ranging and include cooperation between banks, between a Chinese construction company and Italian ports, and the export of Italian fruit to China. The deals also foresee cooperation in the spheres of science and technology and between media outlets, as well as the return by Italy of hundreds of Chinese cultural treasures.

The signing ceremony took place at the Villa Madama, a Renaissance villa designed by Raphael, where Xi was greeted with full honours on the second day of his two-day visit to Italy. He then travelled to Sicily, where officials hope to attract more Chinese tourism.

Italy’s involvement in the Belt and Road program gives China a crucial inroad into Western Europe and a symbolic boost in its economic tug-of-war with Washington, where President Donald Trump is challenging China over trade and other issues.

The EU, however, is worried about unfair competition from Chinese companies, which are controlled by the Chinese government and benefit from the state’s financial backing. EU leaders in Brussels are preparing a strategy to counter the growing influence of China, which they describe as a “systemic rival.”

Some Italian government officials were critical of the deals, worried that Italy might be ceding national sovereignty in key strategic areas to Beijing. In a sign of opposition, Matteo Salvini, the deputy prime minister and interior minister, stayed away from the official ceremonies with the Chinese delegation.

Di Maio stressed that Italy remains firmly rooted in its alliance with the United States, NATO and its European partners, but said Italy must also look out for its own economic interests.

“Like someone in the United States said ‘America first,’ I continue to repeat: ‘Italy first’ in commercial relations,” Di Maio said.

In response to concerns that the memorandum could open the way to colonization by China, Di Maio countered it would instead help goods manufactured in Italy “to colonize the world.”

“That is a good colonialization,” he said.

The Belt and Road project has so far seen investments totalling more than a trillion dollars since its launch more than five years ago, and China says some 150 countries have signed agreements related to the project.

Beijing has marketed the initiative as a way to give some of the world’s neediest countries a leg up, helping them gain access to more trade and investment. But it also helps Chinese companies tap new markets for their products while helping Beijing amass greater global influence.

Some governments including the U.S., Japan and India worry that Beijing is trying to build a China-centered sphere of influence that undermines their own sway, pulling developing nations into infrastructure “debt traps” that would give China ever-more control over their territories and economies. Some say the proposed improvements are too expensive for the impoverished countries.

China’s official position is that Belt and Road is solely an economic initiative with no political motives. Xi said last year that even as China moves closer to the centre of the world stage, it will never seek hegemony. </s> March 23 (UPI) -- Italy became the first G-7 country to sign on to China's Belt and Road initiative on Saturday, a deal experts say is meant to expand the country's global ambitions into Europe.

Chinese president Xi Jinping visited Italian government officials in Rome on Friday. Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said Saturday that his country will build a "more effective relationship" with China in connection with the joining the project, the Washington Post reported.

China's Belt and Road Initiative is a vast multi-continent project of highways, rail lines and energy pipelines connecting China economically to Europe. The Italian deal would open the door for Chinese infrastructure investment in Italian ports, while helping Beijing gain influence and trade goods in Western Europe.

"We export a lot less than we import, compared with our European friends," said Licia Mattioli, vice president for international affairs at Confindustria, the main Italian industry association. "So we think there is a huge potential that we can exploit."

Some European Union leaders cautioned Italy about its bilateral agreement with China.

"We should not be naïve," Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, told reporters Friday about the Chinese-Italian agreement. "You have to take into account the possibility that China, through these policies, is also pursuing its some of its national interests. It can present a problem given the content of those agreements."

Some experts expressed concern because Italy did not discuss geopolitical concerns about the Chinese project with the EU and United States allies.

"Everyone is somehow involved in the project but no other G7 country has signed an MoU of this kind," Renzo Cavalieri, a professor of law of east Asian countries at Ca' Foscari University of Venice, told the Guardian.

"What Italy has done, in quite a disordered way, is take a step ahead to create something which, so far, is not that strong in content but is quite important symbolically," he added. </s> Rome: Italy endorsed China’s ambitious “Belt and Road” infrastructure plan on Saturday, becoming the first major Western power to back the initiative to help revive the struggling Italian economy.

Saturday’s signing ceremony was the highlight of a three-day trip to Italy by Chinese President Xi Jinping, with the two nations boosting their ties at a time when the United States is locked in a trade war with China.

The rapprochement has angered Washington and alarmed some European Union allies, who fear it could see Beijing gain access to sensitive technologies and critical transport hubs.

Deputy Prime Minister Luigi Di Maio played down such concerns, telling reporters that although Rome remained fully committed to its Western partners, it had to put Italy first when it came to commercial ties.

“This is a very important day for us, a day when Made-in-Italy has won, Italy has won and Italian companies have won,” said Di Maio, who signed the memorandum of understanding on behalf of the Italian government in a Renaissance villa.

Taking advantage of Xi’s visit, Italian firms inked deals with Chinese counterparts worth an initial 2.5 billion euros ($2.8 billion). Di Maio said these contracts had a potential, future value of 20 billion euros.

The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) lies at the heart of China’s foreign policy strategy and was incorporated into the ruling Communist Party constitution in 2017, reflecting Xi’s desire for his country to take a global leadership role.

The United States worries that it is designed to strengthen China’s military influence and could be used to spread technologies capable of spying on Western interests.

Italy’s populist government, anxious to lift the economy out of its third recession in a decade, dismissed calls from Washington to shun the BRI and gave Xi the sort of red-carpet welcome normally reserved for its closest allies.

Some EU leaders also cautioned Italy this week against rushing into the arms of China, with French President Emmanuel Macron saying on Friday that relations with Beijing must not be based primarily on trade.

There was not even universal backing for the BRI agreement within Italy’s ruling coalition, with Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini, who heads the far-right League, warning against the risk of China “colonialising” Italian markets.

Salvini did not meet Xi and declined to attend a state dinner held in honour of the visiting leader on Friday.

Di Maio, who leads the 5-Star Movement, says Italy is merely playing catch up, pointing to the fact that it exports significantly less to China than either Germany or France.

Italy registered a trade deficit with China of 17.6 billion euros last year and Di Maio said the aim was to eliminate the deficit as soon as possible.

After talks with Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte and Di Maio in the morning, Xi flew to the Sicilian city Palermo for a private visit on Saturday afternoon.

He is due to head to Monte Carlo on Sunday before finishing his brief tour of Europe in France, where he is due to hold talks with Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

Firstpost is now on WhatsApp. For the latest analysis, commentary and news updates, sign up for our WhatsApp services. Just go to Firstpost.com/Whatsapp and hit the Subscribe button. </s> (Reuters) - Italy signed a preliminary accord with China on Saturday that makes it the first country of the Group of Seven industrialized nation to join the Chinese Belt and Road infrastructure project.

Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte and Chinese President Xi Jinping shake hands after signing trade agreements at Villa Madama in Rome, Italy March 23, 2019. REUTERS/Yara Nardi

Around 30 parallel deals were signed on the sidelines of the visit to Rome by Chinese President Xi Jinping, including 10 with Italian companies and others with ministries and public bodies.

Italian Deputy Prime Minister Luigi Di Maio said the deals were worth an initial 2.5 billion euros ($2.8 billion) but had a potential value of 20 billion.

Here are details of some of the accords.

CDP, BANK OF CHINA

Italy’s state lender Cassa Depositi e Prestiti (CDP) signed an agreement with Bank of China to let it sell “Panda” bonds - debt sold by foreign entities to investors in mainland China.

CDP said it will issue bonds worth 5 billion renminbi ($744.5 million). CDP and Bank of China will also co-finance Italian companies for 4 billion renminbi. A CDP official told Reuters on Friday that the first tranche of Panda bonds will be issued in the coming weeks.

CDP, SNAM

CDP and Italian gas company Snam have signed a memorandum of understanding with the Chinese Silk Road fund (SRF) for cooperation on international investments in China and in the about 120 countries that have already signed up for the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).

Snam and SRF said they will consider possible cooperation in the natural gas sector — pipelines, storage facilities, LNG infrastructure and biomethane plants.

DANIELI

Italian metals company Danieli has signed a deal to build part of a steel plant in China that will then be transferred to Azerbaijan.

TRIESTE AND GENOA PORTS China Communications Construction Company (CCCC) has signed two cooperation agreements with the authorities of Trieste’s port and with the commissioner supervising the reconstruction of the bridge of Genoa that collapsed last year.

ANSALDO ENERGIA

Ansaldo Energia said it signed a deal with China United Gas Turbine Company (UGTC) for technology cooperation in the field of heavy duty gas turbines.

Ansaldo Energia has also been awarded a contract worth approximately 25 million euros to supply a AE94.2K gas turbine and syngas compressor train for Bengang combined cycle power plant, located in Benxi in the northeast China.

SUNING

China’s e-commerce group Suning, top shareholder of Italian Serie A soccer team Inter Milan, announced a deal with the Italian Trade Agency to boost Made-in-Italy exports to China.

INTESA SANPAOLO

Intesa Sanpaolo has signed a MoU with the Chinese city of Qingdao to develop wealth management services for local clients through a wholly-owned company called Yi Tsai. Intesa aimed to sell its own financial products in Qingdao in the near future, Intesa CEO Carlo Messina said.

ENI

Italian energy giant Eni has signed a MoU with Bank of China to secure a credit line.

FERROVIE DELLO STATO, AEROPORTI DI ROMA

Italy’s railways group Ferrovie dello Stato, Atlantia’s airport operator Aeroporti di Roma and the museums of sports car maker Ferrari have signed a commercial deal with China’s biggest online travel agency Ctrip to develop Chinese tourism in Italy.

(This story fixes spelling error for the Chinese city of Qingdao for item on Intesa Sanpaolo.) </s> Despite criticisms, Beijing has been steadily gathering support for its “Belt and Road” initiative, which aims to weave a network of ports, bridges and power plants linking China with Africa, Europe and beyond. Italian Premier Giuseppe Conte has pledged to sign a memorandum of understanding this week on supporting the initiative during a visit by Chinese President Xi Jinping, who has made the initiative a signature policy of his administration.

Italy’s involvement would give China a crucial inroad into western Europe and a symbolic boost in its economic tug-of-war with the United States. Italy would be the first member of the G-7, a group of seven major economies that includes the United States, to join Belt and Road, following Portugal’s embrace of the initiative in December.

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It appears to be driven partly by hopes that Chinese investment in Italy’s ports might help revive the country’s traditional role as a key link in trade between the East and West. The Belt and Road program is a loosely defined umbrella for predominantly China-financed — and usually China-built — projects in more than 60 countries from the South Pacific through Asia to Africa and Europe.

As President Donald Trump squares off with China over trade and other issues, gaining Italy’s support is a coup for Beijing. “It’s important for the Xi administration to show that you have Portugal and Italy, two well-known countries in western Europe breaking ranks with the western alliance in BRI,” said Willy Lam, an adjunct professor of China studies at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. China says some 150 countries have signed Belt and Road related agreements since the program’s launch more than five years ago.

A major conference is planned next month in Beijing, marking further expansion of the initiative. Beijing has marketed the initiative as a way to give some of the world’s neediest countries a leg up, helping them gain access to more trade and investment. But it also helps Chinese companies tap new markets for their products while, inevitably, helping Beijing amass greater global influence.

Some governments including the United States, Japan and India worry that Beijing is trying to build a China-centered sphere of influence that would undermine their own sway, pulling developing nations into so-called “debt traps,” that would give China ever-more control over their territories and economies.

China already has made inroads in Eastern Europe through investments in railways, ports and steel mills. That’s stirred fears of a growing divide within the 28-member European Union between its wealthier and poorer members. Some also worry Chinese-led projects might undercut the bloc’s standards on transparency.

As the U.S. takes on long-standing complaints of Chinese intellectual property theft and unfair trade practices, a Chinese win in Italy could boost Beijing’s arguments that it is ultimately a force for good in the global economy. China’s official position is that Belt and Road is solely an economic initiative with no political motives. Xi said in a speech late last year that even as China moves closer to the center of the world stage, it will never seek hegemony.

“The Belt and Road Initiative in nature is an economic strategy,” said Chu Yin, a researcher at the Center for China and Globalization, a think tank in Beijing affiliated with the government and with the ruling Communist Party. “China has no intention to become a global hegemon and nor does China have such an ability,” he said.

Launched in 2013, the initiative is at heart a business venture, not aid. China wants to attract non-Chinese investors but that has happened only on a few of the hundreds of projects, which range from oil drilling in Siberia to construction of ports in Southeast Asia, railways in Eastern Europe and power plants in the Middle East.

The initiative has run into some roadblocks in the past year, as the Chinese economy cooled and the US and others accused Beijing of saddling developing countries with too much debt. Some governments including Thailand, Tanzania, Sri Lanka and Nepal have scrapped, scaled back or renegotiated projects amid complaints that they are too costly and give too little work to local contractors Last year, Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad cancelled projects including a USD 20 billion railway he said his country cannot afford. And in 2017, December, Sri Lanka sold control of its port of Hambantota to a Chinese state-owned company after falling behind in repaying USD 1.5 billion in loans from Beijing. </s> Resisting pressure from Washington and Brussels, Italy on Saturday became the first G7 country to join China's controversial Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).

Italy's Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte, signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Rome, endorsing the global infrastructure building scheme.

Conte and Xi shook hands after 29 separate sections of the memorandum were signed by members of both governments.

The MoU is non-binding. But by opening the door to greater Sino-Italian cooperation, it threatens to deepen rifts between Rome and its traditional allies and within Italy's fragmented coalition government.

Announced in 2013 as an ambitious plan to build a "belt" of overland corridors and a "road" of maritime shipping lanes spanning Asia, the Middle East, Africa and Europe, the BRI has evolved to encompass other regions, as well as digital infrastructure and even cultural exchanges.

Also known as "The New Silk Road", it promises to strengthen China's trade and investment links with the rest of the world and cement its position as a major global economic power.

BRI projects are financed by Chinese state-owned enterprises that offer participating countries inexpensive loans and credit. Analysts at Morgan Stanley predict China's investments in BRI countries could reach $1.3 trillion by 2027.

The scheme has drawn fire from critics who accuse Beijing of engaging in so-called "debt-trap diplomacy" and potentially masking military endeavours as commercial enterprises.

In 2017, Sri Lanka handed Beijing control of a strategic port after it couldn't pay off its Chinese creditors.

The spectre of unsustainable debt burdens has since prompted some countries to delay, scale back and cancel BRI projects.

Italy's decision to defy the recent backlash and join the BRI comes at a time when the potential to boost Italian exports to China and pump money into crumbling Italian infrastructure is an especially alluring proposition.

Italy has an onerous public debt and it fell into recession at the end of last year.

"Italy needs investment and resources and China has those to provide," said Erik Jones, professor of European studies and international political economy at Johns Hopkins University's Bologna-based School of Advanced International Studies.

"Italy also needs to underpin and strengthen its business ties with China [and] this agreement will help there," he said.

Italy is the thirteenth European Union country to sign a memorandum of understanding with China. But it is the first G7 member to do so, throwing the cohesion of the G7 into question.

The landmark move is also a bold statement to Brussels, which engaged in an acrimonious budget battle with Rome last year that forced Italy to pare back its spending plans.

Brussels and Rome have also butted heads over immigration.

"Italy has issues where it is not happy with the EU and the EU is not happy with it, and the only way out of this conundrum is for [Italy] to expand their trade," Einar Tangen, a political and economic affairs commentator, told Al Jazeera.

"Being part of the Belt and Road Initiative would give them a little bit more independence and obviously offer more trade," he said.

Brussels has held a tougher position against the BRI since reports first surfaced of Italy's plans to join the scheme.

The European Commission and the EU's diplomatic arm released a paper last week that branded China a "systemic rival" and threatened to tighten regulations on Chinese investment in Europe.

The paper also included a pledge that EU member states would push for a common approach to 5G security risks in response to concerns raised by the US over Chinese tech giant Huawei.

Some analysts also see Italy's embrace of the BRI as a symbolic gesture of independence ahead of the European Parliament elections this May.

"This agreement is something the government can hold up as an accomplishment," said Jones. "That is particularly relevant for Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte, who tends to have to mediate between the coalition partners more than he is able to take credit for new initiatives."

But joining the BRI could further exacerbate tensions between the two main parties in Italy's coalition government.

Conte's anti-establishment Five Star Movement has championed stronger ties with China, while its main coalition partner, the Eurosceptic, far-right League, is seeking to maintain good relations with the US, which is embroiled in an ongoing trade war with Beijing.

The US and China are also in an escalating dispute over Huawei, whose products the US claims pose a risk to national security.

When reports of Italy's intentions emerged in early March, the White House National Security Council tweeted: "Endorsing BRI lends legitimacy to China's predatory approach to investment and will bring no benefits to the Italian people."

On Tuesday, Conte appeared to try and assuage Washington, telling Italy's parliament that any commercial and economic deals with China "do not remotely put into doubt our Euro-Atlantic alliance". </s> What is China's Belt and Road Initiative? The project is often described as a 21st century silk road, made up of a of overland corridors and a maritime of shipping lanes. China is carrying out or planning construction projects in along these routes.

Beijing’s multibillion dollar Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) has been called a Chinese Marshall Plan, a state-backed campaign for global dominance, a stimulus package for a slowing economy, and a massive marketing campaign for something that was already happening – Chinese investment around the world.

Over the five years since President Xi Jinping announced his grand plan to connect Asia, Africa and Europe, the initiative has morphed into a broad catchphrase to describe almost all aspects of Chinese engagement abroad.

Belt and Road, or yi dai yi lu, is a “21st century silk road,” confusingly made up of a “belt” of overland corridors and a maritime “road” of shipping lanes.

From South-east Asia to Eastern Europe and Africa, Belt and Road includes 71 countries that account for half the world’s population and a quarter of global GDP.

Everything from a Trump-affiliated theme park in Indonesia to a jazz camp in Chongqing have been branded Belt and Road. Countries from Panama to Madagascar, South Africa to New Zealand, have officially pledged support.

How much money is being spent?

The Belt and Road Initiative is expected to cost more than $1tn (£760bn), although there are differing estimates as to how much money has been spent to date. According to one analysis, China has invested more than $210bn, the majority in Asia.

But China’s efforts abroad don’t stop there. Belt and Road also means that Chinese firms are engaging in construction work across the globe on an unparalleled scale.

To date, Chinese companies have secured more than $340bn in construction contracts along the Belt and Road.

However, China’s dominance in the construction sector comes at the expense of local contractors in partner countries.

The vast sums raked in by Chinese firms are at odds with the official rhetoric that Belt and Road is open to global participation and suggest that the initiative is also motivated by factors other than trade, such as China’s need to combat excess capacity at home.

What are the risks for countries involved?

More recently, governments from Malaysia to Pakistan are starting to rethink the costs of these projects. Sri Lanka, where the government leased a port to a Chinese company for 99 years after struggling to make repayments, is a cautionary tale.

Earlier this year, the Center for Global Development found eight more Belt and Road countries at serious risk of not being able to repay their loans.

The affected nations – Djibouti, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, the Maldives, Mongolia, Montenegro, Pakistan and Tajikistan – are among the poorest in their respective regions and will owe more than half of all their foreign debt to China.

Critics worry China could use “debt-trap diplomacy” to extract strategic concessions – such as over territorial disputes in the South China Sea or silence on human rights violations. In 2011, China wrote off an undisclosed debt owed by Tajikistan in exchange for 1,158 sq km (447 sq miles) of disputed territory.

“There are some extreme cases where China lends into very high risk environments, and it would seem that the motivation is something different. In these situations the leverage China has as lender is used for purposes unrelated to the original loan,” said Scott Morris, one of the authors of the Washington Centre for Global Development report.

Why is the initiative sparking global concern?

As Belt and Road expands in scope so do concerns it is a form of economic imperialism that gives China too much leverage over other countries, often those that are smaller and poorer.

Jane Golley, an associate professor at Australian National University, describes it as an attempt to win friends and influence people. “They’ve presented this very grand initiative which has frightened people,” says Golley. “Rather than using their economic power to make friends, they’ve drummed up more fear that it will be about influence.”

According to Shan Wenhua, a professor at Jiaotong University in Xi’an, Xi’s signature foreign policy is “the first major attempt by the Chinese government to take a proactive approach toward international cooperation … to take responsibility.”

Some worry expanded Chinese commercial presence around the world will eventually lead to expanded military presence. Last year, China established its first overseas military base in Djibouti. Analysts say almost all the ports and other transport infrastructure being built can be dual-use for commercial and military purposes.

“If it can carry goods, it can carry troops,” says Jonathan Hillman, director of the Reconnecting Asia project at CSIS.

Others worry China will export its political model. Herbert Wiesner, general secretary of Germany’s PEN Center, says human rights are being “left in the ditches by the sides of the New Silk Road”.

Where does it end?

Belt and Road is likely to continue, not least because these projects signal loyalty to Xi. The initiative has been enshrined in the Chinese communist party’s constitution, which also eliminated term limits, leaving Xi room to continue Belt and Road for as long as he wants.

It also gives disparate Chinese projects overseas the veneer of being part of a grand strategic plan, according to Winslow Robertson, a specialist in China-Africa relations. It is not a centralised initiative, so much as a brand, he says.

“Who determines what is a Belt and Road project or a Belt and Road country? Nobody is sure. Everything and nothing is Belt and Road.”

Not all of the most ambitious Belt and Road projects are about hard infrastructure. China plans to set up international courts, in Shenzhen and Xi’an, the former hub of the original Silk Road, to resolve commercial disputes related to Belt and Road.

“It’s a reminder BRI is about more than roads, railways, and other hard infrastructure,” said Jonathan Hillman, director of the Reconnecting Asia project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. “It’s also a vehicle for China to write new rules, establish institutions that reflect Chinese interests, and reshape ‘soft’ infrastructure.”

Officials have said the courts, to be based on the judiciary, arbitration and mediation agencies of China’s Supreme People’s Court in Beijing, will follow international rules and will invite legal experts from outside China to participate.

Legal experts say the courts will likely be modelled on International Finance Centre Courts in Dubai and the International Commercial Court in Singapore, which has already struck an agreement with China to resolve Belt and Road-related disputes.

But critics of the independence of the country’s judicial system, which traditionally answers to China’s ruling communist party, worry the courts will favour Chinese parties over foreign firms.
Italy signs $2.8 billion in deals with the Belt and Road Initiative.