The Belt and Road Initiative : challenges for China

The debates on China’s Belt and Road Initiative often detour around the crucial question of whether China will actually be able to translate all its plans into reality. Their success is usually assumed, with quite a few influential figures believing that as an authoritarian system, the Chinese government is uniquely in command, both domestically and internationally. This is usually closely tied to the idea that the contrast between China and Western countries could not be bigger.But is China really in such a radically different position? Is its ruling party, state, economy and society really such a well-orchestrated system that it can shape globalisation without being deeply affected by it? On closer look, it turns out that the current domestic problems China faces are of a similar magnitude to the challenges with which many Western governments are grappling. And, perhaps even more surprising, China’s problems are not completely unrelated to the issues faced by many Western countries. This article discusses some of these challenges and relates them to the Belt and Road Initiative.