China’s belt and road strategy offers a winning growth formula, and the world must get on board

Liew Mun Leong says hurdles along the way are expected, but any doubts about China’s capacity to implement its ambitious strategy are dispelled when one considers its demonstrated capacity to turn large-scale dreams into reality at home

Reading Time:5 minutes

Why you can trust SCMP

Liew Mun Leong

Published: 5:15pm, 31 May 2017Updated: 10:10am, 31 Jan 2019

China realises that the plan must be open and inclusive to succeed. They should also surely be aware that such a plan cannot succeed without the cooperation of the host countries and the support of other developed countries. Illustration: Craig Stephens

Last September, I had said that, given the then pessimistic world economy, there were only two major stimuli or drivers that could possibly reignite global growth: the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and China’s “Belt and Road” programme. The TPP is now as good as dead, and we are now left with the Belt and Road Initiative as the only global collaborative vision that could potentially be the engine of world economic growth.

I attended the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation in Beijing last month, to assess the vibes and spirit at the gathering and listen to what participating countries had to say. The mood was supportive and encouraging, but there were palpable reservations over whether China would lead and deliver this global economic initiative fairly and with transparency.

Watch: Xi Jinping hosts the belt and road forum in Beijing

There have been doubts expressed, particularly in Western media, on China’s ability to orchestrate this ambitious undertaking successfully. In my view, whether it is China, the US, Japan, or any other world economic power, a global initiative of this scale will undoubtedly face implementation challenges and obstacles. Funding is the first hurdle, because infrastructure projects will always face issues over their bankability. In addition, where such projects involve foreign investment, there will be issues such as the host country’s political stability, local vested interests and resistance, as well as project management and execution risks. And finally, there would be risks on the completed infrastructures’ performance outcomes.

So does China have the capability to deliver on this grand plan? Over the past few decades, China has convincingly demonstrated its capability to deliver large-scale projects. I first visited China in 1982: it was then mired in abject poverty. Now it is the world’s second-largest economy. No one could have forecast its dramatic transformation.

I have been travelling to China regularly over the past 20 years, dealing with real estate business in various cities. Initially, I was less than sanguine about the mammoth projects China chose to embark on.