Belt and Road Initiative (BRI)
noun phrase (abbreviation)

- China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) (一带一路) is a strategy initiated by the People’s Republic of China that seeks to connect Asia with Africa and Europe via land and maritime networks with the aim of improving regional integration, increasing trade and stimulating economic growth.

European Bank for Reconstruction and Development

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PHRASE ORIGIN

The name was coined in 2013 by China’s President Xi Jinping, who drew inspiration from the concept of the Silk Road established during the Han Dynasty 2,000 years ago – an ancient network of trade routes that connected China to the Mediterranean via Eurasia for centuries. The BRI has also been referred to in the past as 'One Belt One Road'.

The BRI comprises a Silk Road Economic Belt – a trans-continental passage that links China with south east Asia, south Asia, Central Asia, Russia and Europe by land – and a 21st century Maritime Silk Road, a sea route connecting China’s coastal regions with south east and south Asia, the South Pacific, the Middle East and Eastern Africa, all the way to Europe.

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BUT WHY “BELT” AND “ROAD”?

The Belt and Road initiative has two main prongs: one is called the ‘Silk Road Economic Belt’ (the belt) and the other the ‘21st Century Maritime Silk Road’ (the road).

Bewilderingly, the ‘road’ is not actually a road but rather a sea route linking China’s southern coast to east Africa and the Mediterranean. The ‘belt’ is a series of overland corridors connecting China with Europe, via Central Asia and the Middle East.

“It is a very confusing name,” admits Peter Cai, the author of a recent report about Belt and Road, who blames China’s propaganda-focused state media for failing to properly explain the concept to the world. “There is still a lot of confusion about what the Belt and Road initiative is and what it actually entails.”

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SYNONYMS

- for “trade route”

artery/avenue (of commerce), beaten path, BELT AND ROAD, business corridor, caravan route, commercial corridor (highway, lifeline, path, route), conduit of trade, distribution channel, economic corridor (highway), exchange channel (path), freight corridor, goods pathway, highway of commerce, international highway, lifeline, maritime route, market road, mercantile lane, merchant's way, network of exchange, passage (way) of trade, path of commerce, road to commerce, route of commerce (of exchange), sea lane, shipping lane, silk road, spice route, supply chain (line), trade artery (corridor, lane, path, route), trade-wind route, trader route, trading artery (channel, path, route), traffic lane, transport corridor (route), trunk route, waterway

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SMUGGLE OWAD into a conversation today:

Try saying BELT AND ROAD in Chinese: 'YI-DAI-YI-LU' (meaning 'one belt, one road') to a Chinese colleague or friend and see if they understand.

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