The rise of China was always going to ruffle some feathers. Its unique approach to development combines the export- oriented dynamism of East Asian tigers with a resilient authoritarian system that is challenging the idea that democracy and economic development go hand in hand. When China truly went global and Chinese enterprises, interests and political agents started to explore opportunities across the world, the West's ontological security was understandably shaken and fears abounded about China's unchecked ambition. This book is not about the fears of the West but it did attempt to analyze the ambition of China. We collected questions on the BRI from academics, policymakers, businesspeople and professionals from different industries and organized the book accordingly. By studying the excellent academic work of our many colleagues working around the world on the shifting and multifaceted field of the BRI, we assembled a systematic and systemic overview of how China's ambition is changing the face of the world. But the BRI is as much about China's ambition as it is also an outward expression of its domestic system, good and bad included.

The Initiative relies on the decentralized model of governance that encourages actors to pitch projects for approval by the centre, which in turn maintains discipline through fiscal and party- ideological means. While this creates the flexibility needed to fill the gaps left by the centre's vague goals, it can also result in message drift. It is no surprise that the first few years of the BRI saw the words “belt” and “road” pasted on any international event, investment or project hosted by any Chinese entity. Much like with the CCP's other policies, however, the initial flurry of experimentation was brought under control and a winning formula emerged: underneath the big slogans, the BRI has so far been about getting work for China's SOEs by using accumulated foreign exchange to offer loans to developing nations. This point seems obvious by now but it is the key identity marker of the BRI, which will remain an exercise in the internationalization of China's state- owned sector, from builders to banks.