As the Chinese Belt and Road Initiative celebrated its 10th anniversary in 2023, it is crucial to analyze the economic development it brings and at what cost. Despite being promised as a green initiative, there is a significant environmental toll that ecologically disadvantaged countries are already suffering from due to the heavy industrial development led by BRI.
The Belt and Road Initiative was launched in 2013 by Xi Jinping in Kazakhstan at Nazarbayev University. It was an attempt by China to revive the Old Silk Road which was being used by traders 2000 years ago during the Han dynasty, to connect China with the Mediterranean via Eurasia.
