Radically different from Marshall Plan

Liu Ying, research fellow at Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies, Renmin University of China

The Belt and Road Initiative has brought solid benefits for people in the economies along the two routes, as the total trade between China and those economies in the 2014-16 period exceeded $3 trillion, and China's investment there crossed $50 billion. Chinese enterprises have set up 56 economic cooperation zones in more than 20 countries, generating some $1.1 billion in tax revenue and creating 180,000 jobs in the host countries.

In the more than three years since President Xi Jinping proposed the initiative, comprising the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, some people have misinterpreted it as China's version of the Marshall Plan. They are wrong.

After World War II, the United States used the Marshall Plan to not only rebuild Western European economies but also to expand its influence in Europe and counter the socialist camp led by the Soviet Union. However, the Belt and Road Initiative is devoid of any political overtones as its intention is not to counter any parties. Instead, it brings economies together to share the benefits of economic growth.

Under the Marshall Plan, European countries lowered their tariff barriers, and the US expanded its market share and established the hegemony of the US dollar while the Belt and Road Initiative focuses on promoting policy coordination, infrastructure connectivity and development, unimpeded trade, financial integration, and closer people-to-people ties.

China is endeavoring to foster economic growth and transform its economic development model to move toward sustainable and eco-friendly growth, and the Belt and Road Initiative is its contribution to the development of the global economy.