In May 2015, China substantiated its integrated blueprint of the

Silk Road Economic Belt (SREB) and the 21st-Century Maritime

Silk Road (MSR)the twin initiatives covered by the conceptual
umbrella of the One Belt One Road. Chinas soaring vision
envisages that the Silk Roads, once completed, would impact 4.4
billion people and, within a decade, generate trade above a jaw-
dropping $2.5 trillion.

The belt and road run through the continents of Asia, Europe
and Africa, connecting the vibrant East Asian economic circle at
one end with the developed European economic circle at the other.
Specifically, the SREB focusses on bringing together China,
Central Asia, Russia and Europe (the Baltic); linking China with
the Persian Gulf and the Mediterranean Sea through Central Asia and West Asia; and connecting China with
South-East Asia, South Asia and the Indian Ocean. The 21st-Century MSR, in turn, is designed to go from Chinas
coast to Europe through the South China Sea and the Indian Ocean in one route, and from Chinas coast through
the South China Sea to the South Pacific in the other.

On land, the initiative will focus on jointly building a new Eurasian Land Bridge and developing China-Mongolia-
Russia, China-Central Asia-West Asia and China-Indochina Peninsula economic corridors.

Xinjiang province in the west will be the connecting hub for Central, South and West Asian countries. It would
be one of the terminals of the Pakistan-China economic corridor.

Similarly, Chinas province of Heilongjiang will become the gateway for Mongolia and Russias Far East. The
area would be central for the development of the Eurasian high-speed transport corridor linking Beijing with
Moscow.

Two areas in south-west ChinaGuangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region and the Yunnan provincewill establish
links with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). Yunnan, which borders Vietnam, Laos and
Myanmar, is ideal for connecting with the Greater Mekong Sub-region, and serve as a pivot to link China with
South and South-East Asia. Yunnans provincial capital, Kunming, is the end point of the proposed Bangladesh-
China-India-Myanmar (BCIM) economic corridor, which starts in Kolkata.

China has plans to integrate and globalise its inland economies around specific, strategically located hubs, which
will be located along the cross-border international Silk Road transportation network. Thus, Chongqing would
be developed as an important pivot to open up the hinterland in the countrys western region.

A similar role is assigned to cities such as Chengdu and Wuhan, to open up and enmesh other inland areas with
the belt and road economies.

The belt and road would be serviced by a network of roads, high-speed railways, fibre-optic lines,
transcontinental submarine optical cable projects, and satellite information passageways.

Chinese President Xi Jinping has since 2013 been articulating the idea of a 21st century Maritime Silk Road to revive
economic connectivity between Pacific and Indian Oceans and to link Chinas coastline with Southeast Asia, the Gulf and
the eastern coast of Africa. He has also been proposing a 'Silk Road Economic Belt, reviving the ancient link between
China and the Mediterranean through Central Asia. The two projects are now together called OBOR or Belt-Road-Initiative
(BRI).