I'm Robert Lawrence Kuhn and here's what I'm watching: China's Belt and Road Initiative, BRI, on its 10th anniversary. Actually, I've been watching the BRI literally from its beginning. I recall September 7, 2013, when President Xi Jinping, standing at a lectern at Nazarbayev University in Kazakhstan, announced China's vision to build a "Silk Road Economic Belt" – over land, across Eurasia, engaging Central Asia and linking with Europe. The next month, addressing the Indonesian Parliament, Xi proposed the "21st Century Maritime Silk Road" – over water, China reaching out to Southeast Asia, the Middle East, Africa and Europe. I spoke at the first two BRI conferences: 2014, in Urumqi, Xinjiang, "The New Silk Road Economic Belt," and 2015, in Quanzhou, Fujian,  "The 21st Century Maritime Silk Road."

The BRI has been, increasingly, the centerpiece of China's foreign policy. It leverages China's unequaled experience and competitive advantages in constructing infrastructure: rail, roads, ports, airports, power plants, telecom. Nothing is more important for developing countries than infrastructure.

Over the past ten years, China has signed more than 200 BRI cooperation documents with 152 countries and 32 international organizations, covering more than three-quarters of the countries on earth. China has established more than 3,000 cooperation projects, committing and completing, from 2013 to 2022, investments exceeding $1.2 trillion and $800 billion, respectively, accounting for more than half of total foreign projects. Chinese goods flow to more than 300 ports.

In a recent released white paper, China says that, over the decade, the country "has contributed its strength to building a global community of shared future." And in an authoritative retrospective, the head of the NDRC, which oversees the BRI, wrote that the country "adheres to the principles of extensive consultation, joint contribution, and shared benefits" and to "the concepts of openness, greenness, and integrity, and aimed at high standards, sustainability, and benefiting people's livelihood." BRI's five aspects: policy communication, infrastructure connectivity, unimpeded trade, capital financing, and people-to-people bonding.

Over the 10 years, China has constructed six major international economic corridors: New Eurasian Continental Bridge, formed around the Trans-Eurasian international railway trunk line from China's Jiangsu Province to Rotterdam in the Netherlands; China-Mongolia-Russia; China-Central Asia-West Asia, from China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region via Central Asia to the Persian Gulf, the Mediterranean and the Arabian Peninsula; China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, from Kashi in Xinjiang, China, to Gwadar Port in Pakistan; Southwest Asia Continental Bridge, or the Bangladesh-China-India-Myanmar Economic Corridor; and China-Indochina from Yunnan Province and Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region in southwest China to and through Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Myanmar, Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore. Major projects: the just-opened Jakarta-Bandung line, Indonesia's first high-speed railway, branded "Whoosh" (but not without controversy); Hungary-Serbia Railway; China-Laos Railway; and the Piraeus Port in Athens, Greece. The BRI's flagship project are the China-Europe freight trains, with 84 operating routes, reaching 211 cities in 25 European countries, promoting interconnection and enhancing trade all along the routes.

China's BRI is not charity. China says it seeks "win-win," which means that China wins too. China wins via preferential access to vast sources of raw materials (for example, oil); substantial business for its massive, state-owned construction companies; developing new markets for its products; and geopolitical support for contentious issues. China thinks very long term.

If I'd be telling a story that the BRI is all "roses and cheers," that the BRI sprouts no problems, then I'd be telling a falsehood. Challenges abound, including excessive debt, project delays, poor project selection, corruption, cultural clashes, terrorism, and pushback, both from host countries and Western countries. Yet, almost every developing country wants more, not less, of China's BRI. They need it.

I'm keeping Watch. I'm Robert Lawrence Kuhn.

Script: Robert Lawrence Kuhn

Editors: Xiao Qiong, Hao Xinxin

Designer: Qi Haiming

Producer: Wang Ying

Chief Editor: Ren Yan

Supervisors: Xiao Jian, Adam Zhu

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