On China’s New Silk Road

Chinese investment in Africa has built roads, railways, dams, and more, spurring new interest and competition from other global investors. Critics say China’s too often exploitative, including with loans that leave some countries too deeply in debt. But its investments helped famine-prone Ethiopia become one of the world’s fastest growing economies. Now, however, civil strife…

China is one of India’s top trading partners, but India has chosen not to be part of China’s New Silk Road. It’s not wild about a future in which China leads Asia, much less the world. Instead, India’s offering its own investments and vision of a more multipolar world. And with Chinese and Indian troops…

China is fast becoming a global leader in cutting edge technologies—such as AI, facial recognition, surveillance, and 5G—and is exporting them worldwide. Fans like the high quality and low cost. Critics say China’s technology enables authoritarian control and increases dependence on an autocratic state. They call for democracies, including the U.S., to work together to…

China’s leaders see climate change as an opportunity in the Arctic, where a new shorter trade route is emerging as ice melts. With its Polar Silk Road, China is targeting access to rare earths, uranium, fish stocks, oil, gas—and the strategic benefits of having a presence in the Arctic. China’s initiative has revived U.S. interest…

Many Latin American countries have joined China’s New Silk Road, including Panama, where Chinese companies now manage ports on both ends of the Panama Canal. As Mexico considers whether to join, some countries in the region are facing heavy pressure from the Trump Administration warning them not to get too close to China. Still, China’s…

Southeast Asian countries have long managed a complex relationship with China—the region’s biggest trading partner and powerful neighbor. The New Silk Road promises opportunities for economic growth, but at what cost? With China increasingly enforcing its disputed claims to the South China Sea with its military, many Southeast Asians are wary the New Silk Road…

Italian populists—skeptical of the value of EU membership—drove Italy to become the first G7 country to join China’s New Silk Road amid pushback from Europe and the US. Italians hoped this would boost their exports to China and increase Chinese investment in Italy. But not much happened. Then came the pandemic, and generous EU aid,…

For centuries, Kazakhstan—situated on the overland route from China to Europe—has played an important role in global trading. Some Kazakhs are optimistic the New Silk Road will ultimately boost their country’s economy, but others are wary of China’s growing influence in the region, especially in light of its detention of Muslims in neighboring Xinjiang province.…

Chengdu is one of China’s fastest-growing cities, thanks to major investments in infrastructure. Now China’s taking its success at home on the road, promising that infrastructure done well can transform people’s lives around the world. Starting in Chengdu, a stop on both the ancient Silk Road and the new one, this episode looks at how…