IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v10y2018i12p4370-d185029.html

Does the Belt and Road Initiative Promote Sustainable Development? Evidence from Countries along the Belt and Road

Author

Listed:
  • Hongjun Xiao

    (Institute of Industrial Economics, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Beijing 100836, China)

  • Junjie Cheng

    (Institute of Industrial Economics, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Beijing 100836, China
    Institute of Regional Modernization, Jiangsu Provincial Academy of Social Sciences, Nanjing 210004, China)

  • Xin Wang

    (Institute of Industrial Economics, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Beijing 100836, China)

Abstract

The “Belt and Road (B&R) Initiative” is an innovative idea proposed by China aimed at promoting common prosperity in the world. Although it has gained more and more recognition and response, there is also some one-sided understanding or distortion. Taking the 60 countries along the Belt and Road from 2010 to 2015 as samples, this paper mainly answers three questions from the perspective of sustainable development: (1) What is the current status of sustainable development in all countries along the “B&R”? (2) Is the “B&R Initiative” conducive to promoting the sustainable development of all countries along the “B&R”? (3) How could the “B&R” be better promoted? The study found that, first, various countries along the “B&R” have manifested an imbalanced characteristic in terms of the sustainable development, and there is much room for improvement in general. Second, the “B&R Initiative” has a positive impact on the sustainable development of all countries. However, due to the relatively short period of time, this impact is not significant at present. Third, to promote “B&R” construction, we must take sustainable development as the fundamental goal to jointly promote the connectivity of facilities, integrate the UN 2030 sustainable development goals, and strengthen the cross-border cooperation between non-governmental and non-profit organizations.

Suggested Citation

  • Hongjun Xiao & Junjie Cheng & Xin Wang, 2018. "Does the Belt and Road Initiative Promote Sustainable Development? Evidence from Countries along the Belt and Road," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(12), pages 1-18, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:10:y:2018:i:12:p:4370-:d:185029
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/10/12/4370/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/10/12/4370/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Enrico Fardella & Giorgio Prodi, 2017. "The Belt and Road Initiative Impact on Europe: An Italian Perspective," China & World Economy, Institute of World Economics and Politics, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, vol. 25(5), pages 125-138, September.
    2. Ivan Timofeev & Yaroslav Lissovolik & Liudmila Filippova, 2017. "Russia's Vision of the Belt and Road Initiative: From the Rivalry of the Great Powers to Forging a New Cooperation Model in Eurasia," China & World Economy, Institute of World Economics and Politics, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, vol. 25(5), pages 62-77, September.
    3. Alicia Garcia Herrero & Jianwei Xu, 2017. "China's Belt and Road Initiative: Can Europe Expect Trade Gains?," China & World Economy, Institute of World Economics and Politics, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, vol. 25(6), pages 84-99, November.
    4. Bruno Van Pottelsberghe De La Potterie & Frank Lichtenberg, 2001. "Does Foreign Direct Investment Transfer Technology Across Borders?," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 83(3), pages 490-497, August.
    5. Bernstein, Jeffrey I. & Mohnen, Pierre, 1998. "International R&D spillovers between U.S. and Japanese R&D intensive sectors," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 44(2), pages 315-338, April.
    6. Coe, David T. & Helpman, Elhanan, 1995. "International R&D spillovers," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 39(5), pages 859-887, May.
    7. Giuseppe Gabusi, 2017. "“Crossing the River by Feeling the Gold”: The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank and the Financial Support to the Belt and Road Initiative," China & World Economy, Institute of World Economics and Politics, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, vol. 25(5), pages 23-45, September.
    8. Junchi Ma, 2017. "The Challenge of Different Perceptions on the Belt and Road Initiative," Croatian International Relations Review, Sciendo, vol. 23(78), pages 149-168, August.
    9. Wolfgang Keller, 2004. "International Technology Diffusion," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 42(3), pages 752-782, September.
    10. Huang, Yiping, 2016. "Understanding China's Belt & Road Initiative: Motivation, framework and assessment," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 40(C), pages 314-321.
    11. Giovanni B. Andornino, 2017. "The Belt and Road Initiative in China's Emerging Grand Strategy of Connective Leadership," China & World Economy, Institute of World Economics and Politics, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, vol. 25(5), pages 4-22, September.
    12. Osabutey, Ellis L.C. & Croucher, Richard, 2018. "Intermediate institutions and technology transfer in developing countries: The case of the construction industry in Ghana," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 128(C), pages 154-163.
    13. Anastas Vangeli, 2017. "China's Engagement with the Sixteen Countries of Central, East and Southeast Europe under the Belt and Road Initiative," China & World Economy, Institute of World Economics and Politics, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, vol. 25(5), pages 101-124, September.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Meihui Zhang & Chi Zhang & Fenghua Li & Ziyu Liu, 2022. "Green Finance as an Institutional Mechanism to Direct the Belt and Road Initiative towards Sustainability: The Case of China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(10), pages 1-31, May.
    2. Jin-Young Jung & Wei Wang & Sung-Woo Cho, 2020. "The Role of Confucius Institutes and One Belt, One Road Initiatives on the Values of Cross-Border M&A: Empirical Evidence from China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(24), pages 1-20, December.
    3. Mingchun Cao & Ilan Alon, 2020. "Intellectual Structure of the Belt and Road Initiative Research: A Scientometric Analysis and Suggestions for a Future Research Agenda," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(17), pages 1-40, August.
    4. Qianxiao Zhang & Syed Asif Ali Naqvi & Syed Ale Raza Shah, 2021. "The Contribution of Outward Foreign Direct Investment, Human Well-Being, and Technology toward a Sustainable Environment," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(20), pages 1-29, October.
    5. Ullah, Atta & Pinglu, Chen & Ullah, Saif & Qaisar, Zahid Hussain & Qian, Ningyu, 2022. "The dynamic nexus of E-Government, and sustainable development: Moderating role of multi-dimensional regional integration index in Belt and Road partner countries," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 68(C).
    6. Chen Cheng & Si Cheng & Chunsheng Feng, 2024. "The Triple Helix Model for Industry-Education City Integration in China: A Development Approach," SAGE Open, , vol. 14(2), pages 21582440241, May.
    7. Lin Chen & Fengyun Mu, 2021. "Spatiotemporal characteristics and driving forces of terrorist attacks in Belt and Road regions," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 16(3), pages 1-24, March.
    8. Jiangmin Yang & Desheng Xue & Gengzhi Huang, 2020. "The Changing Factors Affecting Local Environmental Governance in China: Evidence from a Study of Prefecture-Level Cities in Guangdong Province," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(10), pages 1-17, May.
    9. Chunyang Pan & William X. Wei & Etayankara Muralidharan & Jia Liao & Bernadette Andreosso-O’Callaghan, 2020. "Does China’s Outward Direct Investment Improve the Institutional Quality of the Belt and Road Countries?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(1), pages 1-21, January.
    10. Yanzhe Zhang & Xiao Yu & Jian Zhang & Bowen Zou, 2020. "Evaluation of the Obstacles to Developing the Aynak Copper Mine in Afghanistan," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(4), pages 1-13, February.
    11. Hamid Jafarzadeh & Dongfeng Yang, 2023. "Impacts of the Belt and Roads Initiative on Sustainability: Local Approaches to Spatial Restructuring in the Aras Special Economic Zones," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(16), pages 1-20, August.
    12. Zhenhua Hu & Gaohui Song & Ziyue Hu & Bo Zhang & Ting Lin, 2023. "How to promote the balanced development of urban and rural China? Evidences from reallocating idle rural residential land of Zhejiang province, China," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 18(6), pages 1-15, June.
    13. Qiyong Chen & Shiyu Chen & Changfeng Shi & Qinghua Pang & Ang Li, 2021. "Evaluation of agricultural investment environment in countries around the Black Sea under the background of The Belt and Road," Natural Resources Forum, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 45(4), pages 464-483, November.
    14. Benjamin Nitsche, 2020. "Decrypting the Belt and Road Initiative: Barriers and Development Paths for Global Logistics Networks," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(21), pages 1-23, November.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Yu, Shu & Qian, Xingwang & Liu, Taoxiong, 2019. "Belt and road initiative and Chinese firms' outward foreign direct investment," Emerging Markets Review, Elsevier, vol. 41(C).
    2. Zhi Luo & Guanghua Wan & Chen Wang & Xun Zhang, 2022. "The distributive impacts of the Belt and Road Initiative," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 36(3), pages 586-604, July.
    3. Jianping Liu & Kai Lu & Shixiong Cheng, 2018. "International R&D Spillovers and Innovation Efficiency," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(11), pages 1-23, October.
    4. Cemil Faruk Durmaz & Umurcan Polat, 2020. "Technology Diffusion: Any Further Evidence for Computer Industry?," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 11(1), pages 356-372, March.
    5. Sidong Zhao & Yiran Yan & Jing Han, 2021. "Industrial Land Change in Chinese Silk Road Cities and Its Influence on Environments," Land, MDPI, vol. 10(8), pages 1-30, July.
    6. Spulber, Daniel F., 2008. "Innovation and international trade in technology," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 138(1), pages 1-20, January.
    7. Bitzer, Jürgen & Kerekes, Monika, 2008. "Does foreign direct investment transfer technology across borders? New evidence," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 100(3), pages 355-358, September.
    8. Hübler, Michael, 2011. "Technology diffusion under contraction and convergence: A CGE analysis of China," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 33(1), pages 131-142, January.
    9. Krammer, Marius Sorin, 2008. "International R&D spillovers in transition countries: the impact of trade and foreign direct investment," Kiel Advanced Studies Working Papers 446, Kiel Institute for the World Economy.
    10. Naoto Jinji & Xingyuan Zhang, 2015. "International Knowledge Flows and Productivity: Intra- vs. Inter-Industry Spillovers," International Economic Journal, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 29(3), pages 451-474, September.
    11. Hala Abou-Ali & Mohammed Belhaj, 2008. "Cost Benefit Analysis of Desert Locusts Control: A Multicountry Perspective," Working Papers 801, Economic Research Forum, revised 01 Jan 2008.
    12. Gehringer, Agnieszka, 2016. "Knowledge externalities and sectoral interdependences: Evidence from an open economy perspective," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 102(C), pages 240-249.
    13. Coe, David T. & Helpman, Elhanan & Hoffmaister, Alexander W., 2009. "International R&D spillovers and institutions," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 53(7), pages 723-741, October.
    14. Gong, Guan & Keller, Wolfgang, 2003. "Convergence and polarization in global income levels: a review of recent results on the role of international technology diffusion," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 32(6), pages 1055-1079, June.
    15. Capolupo, Rosa, 2009. "The New Growth Theories and Their Empirics after Twenty Years," Economics - The Open-Access, Open-Assessment E-Journal (2007-2020), Kiel Institute for the World Economy, vol. 3, pages 1-72.
    16. Gioldasis, Georgios & Musolesi, Antonio & Simioni, Michel, 2023. "Interactive R&D spillovers: An estimation strategy based on forecasting-driven model selection," International Journal of Forecasting, Elsevier, vol. 39(1), pages 144-169.
    17. Córdoba, Juan Carlos & Ripoll, Marla, 2008. "Endogenous TFP and cross-country income differences," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 55(6), pages 1158-1170, September.
    18. Ioannis Bournakis & Dimitris Christopoulos & Sushanta Mallick, 2015. "Knowlegde Spillovers, absorptive capacity and growth: An industry-level Analysis for OECD countries," FIW Working Paper series 147, FIW.
    19. Franco, Chiara & Montresor, Sandro & Vittucci Marzetti, Giuseppe, 2011. "On indirect trade-related R&D spillovers: The "Average Propagation Length" of foreign R&D," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 22(3), pages 227-237, September.
    20. Zhao, Wei & Liu, Ling & Zhao, Ting, 2010. "The contribution of outward direct investment to productivity changes within China, 1991-2007," Journal of International Management, Elsevier, vol. 16(2), pages 121-130, June.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:10:y:2018:i:12:p:4370-:d:185029. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.