Has China’s Belt and Road Initiative Acquired the Features of an Economic Corridor?

ERI FEB RAS	Issue's contents	RUS
	Regionalistica 2025 Volume 12 number 3 pages 89-107

Title of the article	Has China’s Belt and Road Initiative Acquired the Features of an Economic Corridor?
Pages	89-107
Author 1	Leonov Sergey Nikolaevich doctor of economics, professor, leading researcher Economic Research Institute FEB RAS 153, Tikhookeanskaya Street, Khabarovsk, Russia, 680042 This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. ORCID: 0000-0001-6936-5436
Author 2	Zaostrovskikh Elena Anatolyevna candidate of science (economics), research fellow Economic Research Institute FEB RAS 153, Tikhookeanskaya Street, Khabarovsk, Russia, 680042 This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. ORCID: 0000-0002-7447-0406
Abstract	The evolution of the concept of «transport corridors» and the types of economic effects they generate for the region are considered, the main issues related to the development of the most important transport corridors of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) are studied, the problems and obstacles that stand in the way of the successful implementation of China’s infrastructure and economic projects in the areas associated with the BRI are highlighted. It is shown that the term «economic belt» refers to a system of economic corridors located in one megaregion and aimed at developing economic ties between countries of different economies. It is concluded that the Belt and Road Initiative has gone from formation to development and has the necessary features of an economic corridor (there is a geographical interconnection of transport networks; vertical network integration is developed; export financing and financial market opportunities are available; conditions have been created for the prospect of trade diversification). However, the further development of the BRI, as the formation of an economic belt, is complicated by a number of negative problems: territorial disputes of the participating states, concentration in the implementation of the Belt and Road Initiative on taking into account the interests of the government level to the detriment of the interests of citizens, difficulties in financing, and the strong creditworthiness of the participating countries.
Code	338.27(571.60)
DOI	10.14530/reg.2025.3.89
Keywords	Belt and Road Initiative, efficiency of economic corridors, megaprojects, international cooperation, China
Download	2025-03.89.pdf
For citation	Leonov S.N., Zaostrovskikh E.A. Has China’s Belt and Road Initiative Acquired the Features of an Economic Corridor? Regionalistica [Regionalistics]. 2025. Vol. 12. No. 3. Pp. 89–107. http://dx.doi.org/10.14530/reg.2025.3.89 (In Russian)
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