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1 1 (May 2017)

handle is hein.amenin/aeiaaal0001 and id is 1 raw text is: Key Points * The China Global Investment Tracker shows China has won $135 billion in construction projects and invested $86 billion in One Belt, One Road (OBOR) countries from 2014 to 2016. These are notable sums, but OBOR faces a number of limitations. * Chinese companies have acted primarily as OBOR contractors. The temporary nature of the construction contracts limits geopolitical gains China can reap from OBOR. Moreover, the construction focuses heavily on energy and transportation. Once Chinese contractors leave, if a host country is unable to perform the considerable maintenance on such projects, the facilities and their benefits will deteriorate. This would limit the benefit for the host. Finally, financing OBOR is becoming a heavier burden for China, in light of rapid increases in domestic debt and sharp drop in once-inexhaustible stock of foreign exchange. The larger figures thrown around for OBOR's ultimate size are nowhere in sight. With the Trump administration considering protectionist policies,' some commentators see the end of American economic leadership2 in Asia. The country perhaps capable-and definitely interested-in filling any leadership gap is China. This week, Beijing is hosting 29 heads of state3 for the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation, a diplomatic event aimed to garner support for the One Belt, One Road (OBOR) initiative. Communist Party General Secretary Xi Jinping has highlighted plans to boost OBOR4 as part of a strategy that puts China at the center of globalization. Can OBOR deliver? Probably not. While OBOR will help both China and the host countries in the short term, its benefits are unlikely to prove durable. The China Global Investment Tracker5 shows the actual impact of OBOR to this point, going beyond Chinese boasts and American fears, neither of which turns out to be well grounded. The tracker shows the majority of Chinese commitments in OBOR countries come in the form of construction projects taken on by large state-owned enterprises (SOEs.) Thus far, China has won $135 billion in construction projects and invested $86 billion in OBOR countries. Whether these projects lead to sustained growth and thus validate China as an economic leader depends largely on each OBOR country's capabilities. Gains may be short-lived because of the challenge of maintaining infrastructure assets once Chinese contractors are gone. In addition, while US observers are concerned about China's AMERICAN ENTERPRISE INSTITUTE

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