Plans address unmet needs, promote benefits

By Wang Cong in Tianjin Source:Global Times Published: 2016/6/28 22:23:01

AIIB, B&R initiatives not an imposition on others: top official


China's move to initiate two highly publicized programs, the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) and the "One Belt and One Road initiative" (B&R), was a response to unmet needs and not an imposition on other countries, the top official at the newly established multilateral bank said Tuesday.

The two initiatives were aimed at promoting mutual benefit and responding to a need for infrastructure and better connectivity in the Eurasian region, AIIB President Jin Liqun said during a panel of the Summer Davos in North China's Tianjin.

It is a response to the need, and the need may not have been well expressed, but China has now expressed it, Jin said.

"Unfortunately, whenever China proposes something, some people who are biased against China will always smell a rat. 'What is your objective? Why did you do this? Do you have a hidden agenda?'," Jin said, noting the projects couldn't have been implemented without support from other countries.

"China is the proponent, initiator and promoter, but China itself cannot do all this. So China proposes it but China does not impose it on all countries," the AIIB president said.

Since the announcement of the two initiatives, skepticism has been voiced about China's economic and strategic goals.

"I am a little bit skeptical at least in the near term about some of the economic implications here," Ian Bremmer, president of Eurasia Group, said in the same panel discussion.

Bremmer noted that while there are strong reasons to support the B&R initiative because of its highest political backing and a demand for infrastructure, near-term economic benefits might not be ideal.

"Initially, there may not be many investment-ready projects to give substance to the B&R," Bremmer cautioned. "The economics may be disappointing for a lot of people over the next decade."

Implementation of projects under the initiative is another issue, according to Bremmer, who said it's also unclear how much money is actually being invested, regardless of what official announcements say.

But for some, there have already been opportunities.

"For us [the Belt and Road initiative] is not just a concept, it's a reality," said Benedikt Sobotka, CEO of Eurasian Resources Group.

He said his company has already started to build projects under the initiative including power plants and ports.

However, there are potential risks in implementing the initiative, Li Daokui, dean of Schwarzman College at Tsinghua University, said during the panel.

"What's the risk? The risk is that we do not understand the needs of the other side," Li said, adding another risk is that Chinese companies don't adjust their operational strategies to accommodate local conditions.

But Li said in the long term, the initiative is good for the region.

"The region will become highly convergent economically rather than being in conflict," he said

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