The Jakarta-Bandung High-Speed Railway is a milestone project under China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). This project reflects China's emphasis on history and neighborhood diplomacy, underlining its role as a leader in the Global South. Additionally, there are challenges alternative initiatives face in competing with China's vast infrastructure endeavors, as Beijing prioritizes economics and geopolitics in its approach.

China pioneered the Belt and Road Initiative, but others have followed its lead. The BRI has been hailed as the largest international cooperation platform producing the most popular public benefits in the world today.

In 10th anniversary year of the Belt and Road Initiative proposed by President Xi Jinping, the international landscape is subject to changes like never before. China’s adaptations have proved successful and hold promise for future world peace.

China’s Digital Silk Road could prove to power a digitally focused economic recovery. But economic potential needs to be balanced with security concerns when assessing opportunities arising from this initiative.

It is impossible to predict the full environmental impact of the Belt and Road Initiative, so it is critical that Chinese authorities take full advantage of every opportunity to consciously build a greener Belt and Road.

The United States is neighbor to all countries in the world, and including it in the Belt and Road development would promote American interests as well as contributing to global growth and stability. China should take active steps to win the support of the US government and enterprises as well as its people.

China is not the only Asian country looking to the ancient Silk Road as a path to greater economic and political influence. Both Japan and South Korea have their own, albeit more modest, versions of Xi Jinping’s Belt and Road Initiative. While Seoul and Beijing have expressed public interest in collaborating along the Silk Road, Tokyo remains silent. Will the BRI be a driver for greater integration in Northeast Asia, or will these three nations prefer to follow their own paths eastward?

A closer look at the Maritime Silk Road plan suggests that materializing the ambitious initiative is facing several challenges due to grievances with some stakeholders in the Indo-Pacific. If China wants to materialize the initiative, it has to return to its so-called “Peaceful Rise.”

As the international economic environment is rather complicated, B&R will involve enormous investments, long construction cycles and slow payback, with various risks and challenges. Many projects are well underway, however, from Indonesia to Central Asia, and more and more countries and regions are aligning with the B&R strategy and China’s commitment to mutual benefit.