Export orders, capital transfers and insurance for cross-border trade can now be arranged in Lingang New Area Of The Shanghai FTZ. Op/Ed by Chris Devonshire-Ellis Updated Friday May 29 Donald Trump is poised to announce some form of sanctions today (Friday May 29) on either Hong Kong, China, or both, following Mike Pompeo’s announcement a[…..]
China-Nepal route over Himalayas now open for business Op/Ed by Chris Devonshire-Ellis A combined road-rail route from China and Tibet and through to the Nepalese capital of Kathmandu was launched last Friday. Starting in Xi’an, the capital of China’s Shaanxi Province, the service takes eight days to reach Kathmandu. There are plans to make the[…..]
How The Mekong River Is Becoming A Significant South-East Asian Trade Corridor Op/Ed by Chris Devonshire-Ellis The last significant tunnel to be bored to complete the China-Laotian Railway was completed on March 15th, with track now being laid at a rate of 2km per day, despite the on-going Covid-19 situation. The route is part of[…..]
Compiled By Chris Devonshire-Ellis Analysis & Opinion The Belt & Road Initiative: Economic Development For All, Or A Geopolitical Power Play? (RUSI) China’s Global Ambitions: Below The Belt & Road (FDD) Exporting Authoritarianism (Council On Foreign Relations) Playing With Fire: Italy, China & Europe (Brookings) Coronavirus Strikes China’s Belt & Road Initiative (LA Times) How[…..]
James Bond’s Older Brother Along The Karakoram Highway James Bond had an older brother? Well the creator of the character, writer Ian Fleming did, the even more interesting and adventurous Peter. Fleming travelled from Moscow to Peking via the Caucasus, the Caspian, Samarkand, Tashkent, the Turksib Railway, and the Trans-Siberian Railway to Peking as a special correspondent of The Times in[…..]
Several Central Asian airlines are set to resume operations following the coronavirus outbreak. Air Astana restarted flying domestic routes in Kazakhstan after the government lifted a lockdown on May 14 that had forced the airline to suspend services. Media reports said that Air Astana wanted to resume 30% of its domestic services by the end of May.[…..]
Compiled By Chris Devonshire-Ellis Analysis & Opinion The Belt & Road Initiative Foreword: Connectivity With Consent (Egmont Institute) Beidou And BRI: Dependence Masked As Independence (Eurasia Review) New Silk Road Hangs In The Balance (DW) What Is The Future Of The Belt & Road? Q&A With Plamen Tonchev (On The New Silk Road) China Infiltrated[…..]
China’s New Silk Road: Weekly Art & Culture Round Up Friday May 15 Op/ed by Chris Devonshire-Ellis This is my new weekly more personal, culture and travel based round up, an incentive to travel and engage in and with Belt & Silk Road arts and cultural issues. Every week we will feature Silk Road explorers,[…..]
Op/Ed by Chris Devonshire-Ellis While Covid-19 has been inflicting pain on the economies of the Belt & Road Initiative the past few months, Governments and world banking institutions have also been taking stock to count up the fiscal damage. Money will need to be lent, in some cases, debt relief provided. It is obvious that[…..]
Op/Ed by Chris Devonshire-Ellis Uzbekistan has formally sought Pakistan’s support for accession to the Quadrilateral Traffic in Transit Agreement (QTTA) in a bid to utilize Karachi and Gwadar ports for its trade operations, joining Pakistan, China, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan. The diplomatic request was made on Friday (May 8).