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Understanding China’s Grand Strategy through the Belt and Road Initiative

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Published date01 April 2024
DOIhttp://doi.org/10.1177/00208817241247665
AuthorGadde Omprasad
Date01 April 2024
https://doi.org/10.1177/00208817241247665
International Studies
61(2) 170 –184, 2024
© 2024 Jawaharlal Nehru University
Article reuse guidelines:
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DOI: 10.1177/00208817241247665
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Research Article
Understanding China’s
Grand Strategy through
the Belt and Road
Initiative
Gadde Omprasad1,2
Abstract
China’s transition from a country striving for self-reliance in the 1950s to the
world’s dominant power in the 2020s is remarkable. The economic and foreign
policies it followed during various phases of development helped the country
to achieve the targets and goals that it set up for itself. The ambitious Belt and
Road Initiative by President Xi Jinping to rebuild old Silk routes and to build new
connectivity projects containing road, rail and sea transport corridors are a part
of China’s Grand Strategy of achieving self-sufficiency of up to 70% in advanced
technology sectors by 2025 and reaching a preeminent position in the world by
2049. This includes protecting security interests as well as the flow of energy
resources required for a steady progress. The article provides an overview of
China’s progress and plans from Mao’s regime to Xi Jinping’s presidency. In the
process, it explains China’s changed priorities, interests and how foreign policy
changed according to the changing economic policies.
Keywords
International politics, geopolitics, BRI, PLA, overcapacity, grand strategy, self-
reliance; foreign policy
Introduction
Chinese foreign policy has been guided by ‘principles of peaceful coexistence’.
The fundamental concept underlying this policy is ‘no interference in internal
affairs of another state’. China along with India during the Bandung Conference
in 1955 promoted the idea of ‘peaceful coexistence’ in a world which had
witnessed the emergence of the ‘Cold War’ and divided countries based on
ideology. The concept of ‘peaceful coexistence’ emphasizes peaceful relations
1Department of Political Science, Central University of Sikkim, Gangtok, Sikkim, India
Corresponding author:
Gadde Omprasad, Centre for South Asian Studies, School of International Studies, JNU, New Delhi
110067, India.
E-mail: opgadde@mail.jnu.ac.in
2Current Affiliation: Centre for South Asian Studies, School of International Studies, JNU, New
Delhi, India

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