UK FURTHER EMBRACESXBELT & ROAD INITIATIVE
Britain hopes to provide services across a range of sectors to aid expansion of the Chinese project.
This year, the United Kingdom became the westernmost point in the Belt and Road Initiative’s sprawling land-transportation network when a freight train crossed the desert sand mountains of Eur asia on the 12,400 km journey from Yiwu, Zhejiang province, on China’s eastern coast, to Barking Station in London.
The UK has been a strong advocate of President Xi Jinping’s signature international development and infrastructure plan since 2013, when the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, known together as the Belt and Road Initiative, were proposed.
British companies have worked on dozens of Chinese development projects along the initiative’s proposed routes. The UK’s most visible endorsement of the plan came in 2015, when it joined the China-led Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank. In February, Chinese government sources told news outlets that China had invited British Prime Minister Theresa May to its major Belt and Road summit in Beijing in May.
In March, Liu Xiaoming, the ambassador to the UK, said China views Britain as “a country of global influence” and an important partner for the initiative.
James Sassoon, chairman of the China-Britain Business Council and a member of the British House of Lords, said this view, coupled with the UK’s already active involvement, places the nation in prime position to expand its contribution to the initiative beyond the provision of legal and financial services.
saidiftheraillinkcanproveitsreliability it will provide a valuable alternative for exporters because rail is cheaper than air and faster than shipping.
Nathan Hayes, an economist at the Construction Intelligence Centre in London, said as markets along the routes develop and investment drives further growth, secondary opportunities for the UK will likely be found across multiple sectors. “UK businesses can leverage the improving business environments and better access to growing, liberalized markets along the Belt and Road routes to secure opportunities across sectors,” he said.
Hayes argues that this secondary Britishinvolvementislikelytoarriveas a trickle, not a wave. That’s because many of the countries along the routes are emerging markets with potential risk factors, such as foreign-exchange volatility, recession and the “crowdingout” of private sector investment as a result of government activity.
“Operating risks are obviously much higher in such environments, and project management may be much more fraught,” he said. “Such environments present the greatest risks to UK companies attempting to conduct business.”
Sassoon, of the China-Britain Business Council, said an initial “leap of faith” will be required by participants in an initiative of the scope and scale of the Belt and Road. The region covers around two-thirds of the world’s population, accounting for about one-third of global GDP.
“Something of this nature requires vision and dogged commitment to bring to life”, he said. “The commercial opportunities are clear in the long term, and the value of individual projects in remote or underdeveloped areas can only be realized when they are part of a linked network.” Contact the writer at angus@mail.chinadailyuk.com
Barking and Dagenham, one of London’s poorest and most neglected boroughs, has found new fame as the most westerly point of China’s new Silk Road rail route.
The first train arrived on January 18 after a 12,451-kilometer journey from Yiwu, Zhejiang province, which took in Kazakhstan, Russia, Belarus, Poland, Germany, Belgium and France. It carried goods from China and opportunities for Barking.
The rail route is part of China’s Belt and Road Initiative, and Barking is the new terminus.
From 1890 to 1959, the borough was developed from a predominately rural part of Essex into an industrial and residential suburb of London. It is set for more changes as Chinese businesses look to invest in the end of the Silk Road rail line.
Darren Rodwell, leader of BarkingandDagenhamCouncil, highlighted the importance of working alongside Chinese investors as a way of developing the borough and encouraging new growth.
“I’m doing what my predecessors did — developing a pathway for everyone to aspireto.Whetherthat’sBarking and Dagenham residents or friends across the globe, if we have the same vision, then what that does is bring communities together and prevent hatred and misunderstanding,” he said.
As well as the benefits for London, Rodwell said Britain also has a lot to offer in return: “The UK is good at arts and crafts, and we’re good at innovation and putting that little bit of icing on the cake, so between the two great cultures we are able to come up with great new ways of taking business forward.”
Rodwell added that the boroughisimmersedinhistory. The suffragette Mary Wollstonecraft came from Barking, and Guy Fawkes left from the borough when he attempted to blow up the Houses of Parliament, he said.
The council leader said the area’s history is an inspiration for the future. “The Chinese government is developing these ‘silk routes’ out of China anditwantstoworkwithpartnerswhofeelthesamewhenit comes to respecting the past but also moving forward.”
Last week, Sino-Australian group ASF announced plans to develop 15,000 affordable homes in the Castle Green area of Barking, which will help alleviate a shortage of homes.
William Franklin, founder of the China Investors Club, said the investment was significant and could lead to more Chinese finance. “With the Northern Powerhouse attracting attention and investment over the last 12 months from Chinese investorsonbothacommercialand residential basis, it is tremendous to see plans for East London,” he said.
“The Castle Green development is a collaboration with Chinese construction companies, and the investment is very much in line with the ‘golden era’ of opportunities between the UK and China.”
Franklin believes this investment will give other Chinese businesses the confidence to look into Barking and Dagenham as part of the Belt and Road Initiative.
“To build 15,000 homes is great, but it is also about the industrial work that will come along with that as well,” he said.“Soitisnotjustaboutthe construction, but also the infrastructure and the ecosystem that will surround it.”
According to Steve McCabe, a lecturer in business at Birmingham City Business School, the development has been greeted with enthusiasm: “Anything that can be done to alleviate the extreme housing need, especially affordable housing, is to be welcomed.”