E-Paper
Bigger, smarter: BRI 2.0 after the third Belt and Road forum
This paper is authored by Prithvi Gupta, ORF.
In 2023, a decade after inaugurating the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), Chinese President Xi Jinping convened the Third Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation (third BRF) in Beijing. In his Chair’s Statement, he pledged reforms and institutionalisation to address the connectivity initiative’s myriad problems and international criticisms. The third BRF focused on practical cooperation, multimodal connectivity, globalisation of trade, cooperation in new and green transition technologies, setting global standards for connectivity and greater accountability through institutionalisation. Nearly two years later, a detailed assessment of the real-time implementation of the third BRF’s deliverables and promised adaptations has become imperative. This brief assesses the BRI’s structural shifts and analyses the evolved BRI in the context of the broader geopolitical contestation in connectivity cooperation.
Xi Jinping launched the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) in 2013 during his state visits to Kazakhstan and Indonesia. He envisioned a continental belt linking Eurasia and the 21st-century Maritime Silk Road, connecting all critical maritime chokepoints, sea trade lanes, and global routes. Initially called ‘One Belt, One Road,’ the project was rebranded as the BRI in 2015 to convey a more inclusive and open approach, distancing it from perceptions of being a China-centric project. In 2017, after channelling $240 billion into 64 countries through investments, loans, and contracts, China added the Digital Silk Road (DSR) and the Health Silk Road (HSR) to the BRI. The DSR and the HSR are the BRI’s digital and health arms, respectively. Between 2017 and 2024, Chinese economic engagement under the HSR and DSR amounted to $62 billion across 96 countries. Since its inception to July 2025, Beijing’s collective economic engagement under the different BRI frameworks has amounted to $1.308 trillion ($775 billion in construction contracts and $533 billion in investments).
This paper can be accessed here.
This paper is authored by Prithvi Gupta, ORF.
