Introduction — Southeast Asia and the Belt and Road Initiative: The Political Economy of Regionalism, Trade, and Infrastructure

Abstract

Since its launch in late 2013, the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) has become a significant factor in shaping China’s economic and diplomatic relations with the world. China’s increasing clout presents opportunities as well as challenges, especially for the developing economies of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) which constitute major sites for investment and trade alongside the BRI routes. This special issue examines whether and to what extent China’s economic ascendancy has impacted the proposed ASEAN Economic Community and the respective nations in the region. It deals with this question by grounding the analysis along three themes — institutions at a regional level, industry/sector, and particular ASEAN countries’ economic relationship with China. A total of 12 articles are presented to illuminate the state of affairs at the regional level and in specific ASEAN economies. They point to the importance of managing trade and investment flows stemming from China’s increasingly sophisticated national firms. This in turn hinges on forging ‘rules of the game’ at both the multilateral and bilateral levels, which potentially leads to mutually beneficial industrialization and long-term wealth creation. In addition to summarizing key findings of the articles in the special issue, this introductory essay examines some of the key themes confronting ASEAN in its engagement with the BRI such as institutions, global supply chains, and economic strategies. It concludes with a brief discussion on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the BRI in Southeast Asia, and on ways to enhance regional integration.

Assessing the Belt and Road Initiative’s Impact: A Multi-Regression Model Based on Economic Interaction

“…At the economic level, studies can be divided into regional and national economies based on their scope. At the regional economic level, existing studies have examined the overall economic impact of several regions in Asia and Europe, including South Asia [21][22][23], Central Asia [24][25][26], and Southeast Asia [7,27,28]. On the other hand, the studies on the economic levels of specific countries are centered around several countries central to the Belt and Road Initiative, such as India, Russia, and Singapore [29].…”

“…To estimate the parameters a and b, use the least squares method. Construct the data matrix B and the data vector Y N as shown in Equations ( 6) and (7), respectively: ) is given by x (1) (k + 1) = (x (0) (1) − b a )e −ak + b a . To restore the predicted values x(0) (k + 1) from the accumulated sequence, use the IAGO.…”

“…As of 2023, China has been ASEAN's largest trading partner for 14 consecutive years, and ASEAN has been China's top trading partner for 4 straight years. Under the Belt and Road framework, the China-initiated Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) and the New Development Bank (NDB), as opposed to the existing Western-dominated Bretton Woods system, have been widely welcomed by emerging economies, especially those along the Belt and Road routes [7,8].…”

COVID-19 and E-Learning Adoption in Higher Education: A Multi-Group Analysis and Recommendation

“…Previous studies have described e-learning as being drastically optimized; with the help of technology, learning has been improved. However, the COVID-19 pandemic reshaped the whole world and how it was working, and the education industry, in particular, was forced to change its learning system from an offline mode to an online mode [42]. It has been realized that this has not only maintained education during the COVID-19 pandemic, but also this system has reduced the various associated concerns related to time and distance where users have been able to upgrade their skills while maintaining lower costs and with higher flexibility [43,44].…”

China's Foreign Policy Shift From Belt and Road Initiative to Global Development Initiative: Impacts on Maritime Geopolitics of the Indian Ocean Region

“…The idea of BRI was spelled out as the country's visionary foreign policy with colossal strategic opportunities to be extended to the world with clear goals of "promoting policy coordination, connectivity of infrastructure and facilities, unimpeded trade, financial integration and people-to-people bonds, adhering to the principle of achieving shared growth through discussion and collaboration in propelling the Belt and Road construction." 1 This initiative is not limited to economic ventures, as it has been envisioned and worked upon regional and cultural connectivity to Europe, Asia, and Margalla Papers-2022 (Issue-II) [14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27] Africa. It has brought significant changes in states' foreign relations and regional and international geopolitics, spreading out a complex political chessboard in which US supremacy has been challenged, and its allies and strategic partners have their own insecurities linked with BRI and China's policies.…”