The Great Game Changer: Belt and Road Intiative (BRI; OBOR)

[Tshering22]

COMAC C929 Wide Body Aircraft Concept

View attachment 312949
View attachment 312950

Specifications Comac C929.

• 
  
  
  • Crew: 3 rights;
  • Passenger capacity: 350 people (depending on version);
  • Length of aircraft: 53,5 m .;
  • Wingspan: 55,6 m .;
  • The height of the aircraft: 13,6 m .;
  • Weight of empty aircraft: 115000 kg. (Depending on version);
  • Payload: 105000 kg. (Depending on version);
  • Maximum takeoff weight: 220000 kg. (Depending on version);
  • Cruising speed: 920 km \ .;
  • Maximum airspeed: 950 km \ h .;
  • Maximum range of flight: 10000 km .;
  • Maximum height of flight: 14500 m .;
  • Type of aircraft engine: turbofan;
  • Power plant: in the decision-making process.
  • Power: decision-making process

Amazing concept if this materializes.

Looking forward to seeing this in Indian colours.

 

[onebyone]

China's One Belt One Road is an attempt to physically and economically unify Europe and Asia and $890 billion in deals are a start
June 30, 2016

There are 900 deals under way on China's One Belt One Road initiative. The deals are worth $890 billion, such as a gas pipeline from the Bay of Bengal through Myanmar to south-west China and a rail link between Beijing and Duisburg, a transport hub in Germany. China says it will invest a cumulative $4 trillion in OBOR countries, though it does not say by when. Its officials tetchily reject comparison with the Marshall Plan which, they say, was a means of rewarding America’s friends and excluding its enemies after the second world war. OBOR, they boast, is open to all. But, for what it is worth, the Marshall Plan amounted to $130 billion in current dollars.

President Xi’s chief foreign adviser, Yang Jiechi, has tied OBOR to China’s much-touted aims of becoming a “moderately well-off society” by 2020 and a “strong, prosperous” one by mid-century.

Mr Xi seems to see the new Silk Road as a way of extending China’s commercial tentacles and soft power. It also plays a role in his broader foreign-policy thinking. The president has endorsed his predecessors’ view that China faces a “period of strategic opportunity” up to 2020, meaning it can take advantage of a mostly benign security environment to achieve its aim of strengthening its global power without causing conflict. OBOR, officials believe, is a good way of packaging such a strategy. It also fits with Mr Xi’s “Chinese dream” of recreating a great past. It is not too much to say that he expects to be judged as a leader partly on how well he fulfils OBOR’s goals.

Third, OBOR matters because it is a challenge to the United States and its traditional way of thinking about world trade. In that view, there are two main trading blocs, the trans-Atlantic one and the trans-Pacific one, with Europe in the first, Asia in the second and America the focal point of each. Two proposed regional trade deals, the Trans-Pacific Partnership and the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, embody this approach. But OBOR treats Asia and Europe as a single space, and China, not the United States, is its focal point.

In April a Chinese shipping company, Cosco, took a 67% stake in Greece’s second-largest port, Piraeus, from which Chinese firms are building a high-speed rail network linking the city to Hungary and eventually Germany. In July work is due to start on the third stage of a Chinese-designed nuclear reactor in Pakistan, where China recently announced it would finance a big new highway and put $2 billion into a coal mine in the Thar desert.



A financial structure to support it has also taken shape. In 2015 the central bank transferred $82 billion to three state-owned “policy banks” for OBOR projects. China’s sovereign wealth fund backed a new Silk Road Fund worth $40 billion and the government set up the AIIB with $100 billion of initial capital. The bank is not formally part of OBOR but the loans approved at its first general meeting—roads in Pakistan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, for example—are all in Silk Road countries.

Now the rest of the Chinese state is mobilising. Two-thirds of China’s provinces have emphasised the importance of OBOR for their development. For example, Fuzhou, the capital of coastal Fujian province, has told its companies to “start businesses in the countries and regions along the maritime Silk Road”; it has set up a free-trade zone to attract firms from such countries in South-East Asia. Many big state-owned enterprises (SOEs) have an OBOR department, if only in the hope of getting money for their projects.

As a result, China’s foreign direct investment (FDI) is increasingly going along the Silk Road. In 2015, by official reckoning, its FDI in OBOR countries rose twice as fast as the increase in total FDI. Last year 44% of China’s new engineering projects were signed with OBOR countries. In the first five months of 2016, the share was 52%.

China’s approach to investment seems to be changing, too. Its OBOR contracts are now more likely to involve Chinese firms managing the infrastructure they build, rather than (as in the past) building them and simply handing them over. In theory, this should give China an interest in working for the long term in Silk Road countries.

There are reasons for thinking the new Silk Road will be completed. Most important, Asia needs new infrastructure—about $770 billion a year of it until 2020, according to the Asian Development Bank. This demand should eventually ease today’s worries about a lack of projects. Bert Hofman, the World Bank’s chief in Beijing, adds that individual countries will benefit more if they align their plans with one other and with China. It does not pay to plan and build separately.

Next, China needs OBOR. At home, its businesses are being squeezed by rising costs and growing demands that they pay more attention to protecting the environment. It makes sense for them to shift some manufacturing overseas—as long as the infrastructure is there.

http://nextbigfuture.com/2016/06/chinas-one-belt-one-road-is-attempt-to.html

 

[ahojunk]

'One Belt, One Road' forum gains traction at the WEF
CCTV.com
06-28-2016 16:27 BJT

Among many sub-forums being held in Tianjin, the discussion on the one belt one road initiative links Chinese entrepreneurs to trade ministers from other countries. The entrepreneurs say the private sector will be the backbone for Chinese firms' expansion abroad.

At the world economic forum in Tianjin, many Chinese firms say they value the opportunity to develop overseas, while they also caution on risks.

"The biggest challenge is risk. Only by locating a local partner could we avoid risks," said Li Huaizhen, China Minsheng Investment Group CEO.

As the global economy remains soft, experts say the one belt one road initiative could provide more opportunities for business and eventually, a new round of growth.

"For China, the most important market used to be advanced economies and east Asia. Both of them would see declining growth. Whether China could explore new markets as drivers for our global growth? One Belt One Road initiative is very meaningful for this matter," said Huang Yiping, deputy dean of National School of Dev't, Peking University.

Others say it is time to advance the connectivity among regional partners.

"Countries along the belt and road initiative would be hot destinations for energy infrastructure. We need a sophisticated system to support companies expanding overseas, especially for those private companies," said Gao Jifan, Trina Solar CEO.

Analysts say that in the long term, better connectivity would bring out an economic union, which would enable countries to coordinate their tariffs, currencies and financial policies, and find an effective model to deal with disputes.

 

[TaiShang]

Maiden journey to Moscow


A cargo train is ready to depart from Nanjing in Jiangsu Province on June 29, 2016. To arrive in Moscow in 15 days, the new direct service provides a means of getting goods from the Yangtze River Delta to Europe. After the maiden journey, the Nanjing-Moscow cargo train is scheduled to operate every two weeks, and weekly around the beginning of next year. [Photo/Xinhua]


A cargo train is ready to depart from Nanjing in Jiangsu Province on June 29, 2016. To arrive in Moscow in 15 days, the new direct service provides a means of getting goods from the Yangtze River Delta to Europe. After the maiden journey, the Nanjing-Moscow cargo train is scheduled to operate every two weeks, and weekly around the beginning of next year. [Photo/Xinhua]

A cargo train is ready to depart from Nanjing in Jiangsu Province on June 29, 2016. To arrive in Moscow in 15 days, the new direct service provides a means of getting goods from the Yangtze River Delta to Europe. After the maiden journey, the Nanjing-Moscow cargo train is scheduled to operate every two weeks, and weekly around the beginning of next year. [Photo/Xinhua]

 

[TaiShang]

June 30, 2016
asia, china, economic impact, europe, finance, world

There are 900 deals under way on China's One Belt One Road initiative. The deals are worth $890 billion, such as a gas pipeline from the Bay of Bengal through Myanmar to south-west China and a rail link between Beijing and Duisburg, a transport hub in Germany. China says it will invest a cumulative $4 trillion in OBOR countries, though it does not say by when. Its officials tetchily reject comparison with the Marshall Plan which, they say, was a means of rewarding America’s friends and excluding its enemies after the second world war. OBOR, they boast, is open to all. But, for what it is worth, the Marshall Plan amounted to $130 billion in current dollars.

President Xi’s chief foreign adviser, Yang Jiechi, has tied OBOR to China’s much-touted aims of becoming a “moderately well-off society” by 2020 and a “strong, prosperous” one by mid-century.

Mr Xi seems to see the new Silk Road as a way of extending China’s commercial tentacles and soft power. It also plays a role in his broader foreign-policy thinking. The president has endorsed his predecessors’ view that China faces a “period of strategic opportunity” up to 2020, meaning it can take advantage of a mostly benign security environment to achieve its aim of strengthening its global power without causing conflict. OBOR, officials believe, is a good way of packaging such a strategy. It also fits with Mr Xi’s “Chinese dream” of recreating a great past. It is not too much to say that he expects to be judged as a leader partly on how well he fulfils OBOR’s goals.

Third, OBOR matters because it is a challenge to the United States and its traditional way of thinking about world trade. In that view, there are two main trading blocs, the trans-Atlantic one and the trans-Pacific one, with Europe in the first, Asia in the second and America the focal point of each. Two proposed regional trade deals, the Trans-Pacific Partnership and the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, embody this approach. But OBOR treats Asia and Europe as a single space, and China, not the United States, is its focal point.

In April a Chinese shipping company, Cosco, took a 67% stake in Greece’s second-largest port, Piraeus, from which Chinese firms are building a high-speed rail network linking the city to Hungary and eventually Germany. In July work is due to start on the third stage of a Chinese-designed nuclear reactor in Pakistan, where China recently announced it would finance a big new highway and put $2 billion into a coal mine in the Thar desert.





A financial structure to support it has also taken shape. In 2015 the central bank transferred $82 billion to three state-owned “policy banks” for OBOR projects. China’s sovereign wealth fund backed a new Silk Road Fund worth $40 billion and the government set up the AIIB with $100 billion of initial capital. The bank is not formally part of OBOR but the loans approved at its first general meeting—roads in Pakistan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, for example—are all in Silk Road countries.

Now the rest of the Chinese state is mobilising. Two-thirds of China’s provinces have emphasised the importance of OBOR for their development. For example, Fuzhou, the capital of coastal Fujian province, has told its companies to “start businesses in the countries and regions along the maritime Silk Road”; it has set up a free-trade zone to attract firms from such countries in South-East Asia. Many big state-owned enterprises (SOEs) have an OBOR department, if only in the hope of getting money for their projects.

As a result, China’s foreign direct investment (FDI) is increasingly going along the Silk Road. In 2015, by official reckoning, its FDI in OBOR countries rose twice as fast as the increase in total FDI. Last year 44% of China’s new engineering projects were signed with OBOR countries. In the first five months of 2016, the share was 52%.

China’s approach to investment seems to be changing, too. Its OBOR contracts are now more likely to involve Chinese firms managing the infrastructure they build, rather than (as in the past) building them and simply handing them over. In theory, this should give China an interest in working for the long term in Silk Road countries.

There are reasons for thinking the new Silk Road will be completed. Most important, Asia needs new infrastructure—about $770 billion a year of it until 2020, according to the Asian Development Bank. This demand should eventually ease today’s worries about a lack of projects. Bert Hofman, the World Bank’s chief in Beijing, adds that individual countries will benefit more if they align their plans with one other and with China. It does not pay to plan and build separately.

Next, China needs OBOR. At home, its businesses are being squeezed by rising costs and growing demands that they pay more attention to protecting the environment. It makes sense for them to shift some manufacturing overseas—as long as the infrastructure is there.

http://nextbigfuture.com/2016/06/chinas-one-belt-one-road-is-attempt-to.html

A nicely-written article, especially in terms of its analysis on the US and Chinese approach to development. As it seems, China has a unitary approach to Eurasian development, but the US, out of its geographic location, has a binary approach.

One thing to point out, also, is the paradigmatic difference between China and the US, which is one of securitization. China emphasizes economy in order to ensure security whereas the US emphasizes security to ensure economic growth.

Two paradaigms clashing. The US will likely move closer to the losing end.

 

[ahojunk]

This Belt and Road Initiative is something the participating countries wanted as it brings them benefits.
When OBOR becomes a reality, Europe, Central Asia, East Asia and SEA will be one big economic market.
Looking on the outer will be US. lol.

--------

• JUNE 28, 2016

ONE BELT, ONE ROAD INITIATIVE SIGNALS CHINA’S ECONOMIC AND STRATEGIC OBJECTIVES

• MD STAFF

China’s “One Belt, One Road” (OBOR) concept for regional cooperation, which encompasses 65 countries along the land and maritime Silk Road routes, highlights China’s economic and strategic objectives as it faces slower growth and seeks to promote new growth drivers.

“This is beyond economics,” said Jin Liqun, President of the Beijing-based Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), in a session on the OBOR project at the Annual Meeting of the New Champions 2016. “This is more a strategic, geopolitical issue. It boils down to one single objective: peace and prosperity for people.”

“One of the main reasons ‘One Belt, One Road’ was created is to do something about [China’s] overcapacity domestically,” explained political scientist Ian Bremmer, President of Eurasia Group in the United States. OBOR has the backing of China’s leadership and is focused in large part on developing infrastructure in countries along the routes, which would bolster their commercial relations with China. “The infrastructure is badly needed,” Bremmer reckoned. “This fills a vacuum.”

The strategic dimension of OBOR, however, is important, he observed. “You are talking about China going out and creating supply chains that it will be eager to protect. It won’t be ‘not my problem’ anymore. The Chinese leadership will be much more in support of stability. The world absolutely welcomes this and needs it.” But initially, there may not be many investment-ready projects to give substance to OBOR, Bremmer cautioned. “The economics may be disappointing for a lot of people over the next decade.”

While it may be difficult to develop viable and profitable ventures, there are many such OBOR-aligned projects underway already, including ports, industrial plants and other infrastructure, asserted Benedikt Sobotka, Chief Executive Officer of Eurasian Resources Group in Luxembourg. “There is a strategy – and the Chinese government has been implementing it. It is absolutely impressive how systematically and efficiently this initiative is being implemented.” China, Sobotka remarked, is returning to the economic and commercial prominence it enjoyed in the days of the ancient Silk Road.

For Zhang Bingjun, Corporate Chairman of Tianjin TEDA Construction Group in China, OBOR is indeed a reality. His company, for example, has been collaborating with the Egyptian government on developing an industrial development zone near the Suez Canal. Many Chinese enterprises, Zhang noted, are now exploring opportunities in the international market. “The launching of this strategy is driven by the demand of Chinese companies,” he said. “China’s leaders have proposed ‘One Belt, One Road’ after in-depth analysis of the Chinese and world economies and with a holistic understanding of the countries and the complementarity of the countries in the region.”

China’s leaders have put forward a long-term vision, said Li Daokui, Dean of Schwarzman College at Tsinghua University in Beijing. By investing in infrastructure development in OBOR countries, China aims to promote the flow of capital, goods and commodities across the region. If the plan is successful over the coming decades, the countries in the region “will form a highly effective, efficient and socially developed region like the EU,” Li said. “The region will become highly converged economically rather than be in conflict.” He warned that China will need to be careful with its investments. “We need to have good environmental protection, or else local people will have regrets.”

China fully understands that responsibility, Jin stressed. The AIIB, another China-led initiative that parallels OBOR, will be involved to a large extent in funding projects in the region. “Any project that would be good for Asia, whether in or outside of Asia, would be good for the bank,” he said. “All projects which we can consider must be financially sustainable, environmentally friendly and socially acceptable.” Despite scepticism and suspicion among some critics of the AIIB and OBOR, China is aiming for mutual benefits and transparency, Jin insisted. “China is the proponent, initiator and promoter. But China itself cannot do all this. China proposes but does not impose. It is a response to the need. The need may not have been well expressed, but China has now expressed it.”

 

[TaiShang]

Joint Russian-Chinese anti-terrorist exercises involving the National Guard of Russia (Rosgvardiya) and the Chinese People's Armed Police Force (PAP) kicked off in the Moscow Region on Sunday.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — The large-scale special tactical exercise is being held on July 3-14 July in Russia's Moscow and Smolensk regions. The PAP Snow Leopard and Falcon commando units and Rosgvardiya's Vityaz unit are taking part in the training, a RIA Novosti correspondent reported from the site of events on Sunday.

"Neighborly relations between our countries are a strategic line between the Chinese and Russian sides. Today, we are beginning a new stage of cooperation. We are glad to have friendly relations with our partner and are ready to carry out common tasks," the chief of Rosgvardiya's general staff, Sergey Chenchik, said.

© REUTERS/ Kim Kyung-Hoon
Oops! Washington's Aggressive Posture Pushes Russia & China Closer Together

Chenchik's Chinese counterpart said that the two countries' interior forces are holding their third joint exercise and are working to improve mutual understanding and improving security in the scenario of a regional terrorist threat.

The units will use equipment such as mortar batteries, Mi-8 transport helicopters and armored vehicles.

The National Guard of Russia was formed in April and combined a range of internal security forces into one federal body tasked with securing borders, countering terrorism and organized crime, protecting public order, guarding state facilities and carrying out gun control. China's People's Armed Police is a law enforcement organization responsible for civilian policing.

sputniknews.com

 

[Daniel808]

"Neighborly relations between our countries are a strategic line between the Chinese and Russian sides. Today, we are beginning a new stage of cooperation. We are glad to have friendly relations with our partner and are ready to carry out common tasks," the chief of Rosgvardiya's general staff, Sergey Chenchik, said.

 

[nadeemkhan110]

Two great superpowers I love CHINA AND RUSSIA
and I don't like USA

 

[grey boy 2]

Two great superpowers I love CHINA AND RUSSIA
and I don't like USA

Thanks for your good will buddy.

 

[pher]

China should send a regiment of PLA there to jointly drill with Russia along the Nato border, get some orientation in that area and also show our strategic support to Russia. Afterall, Russia will have a navy excercise with China in SCS soon.

 

[TaiShang]

China should send a regiment of PLA there to jointly drill with Russia along the Nato border, get some orientation in that area and also show our strategic support to Russia. Afterall, Russia will have a navy excercise with China in SCS soon.

I will not consider China-Russia partnership as a mature one until/unless the two sides declare that attack on one of the partners will be considered an attack the other and responded accordingly.

Still awaiting that ultimate strategic partnership.

 

[pher]

I will not consider China-Russia partnership as a mature one until/unless the two sides declare that attack on one of the partners will be considered an attack the other and responded accordingly.

Still awaiting that ultimate strategic partnership.

If you pay attention to our joint statement several days ago when Putin was in Beijing, actually we are pretty much in a military alliance now. maybe that is why turkey apologied to Russia, just 2 days after that statemment.

 

[TaiShang]

If you pay attention to our joint statement several days ago when Putin was in Beijing, actually we are pretty much in a military alliance now. maybe that is why turkey apologied to Russia, just 2 days after that statemment.

Yes, I liked the statement, but, a formal declaration would be a more powerful geopolitical statement which would make the West encroaching on both China and Russia think twice.

It is very interesting observation about Turkey. Turkey is not to be trusted even on a solid pragmatist basis; essentially, they are on the Western camp no matter what happens, that is just in the gene of right wing governments. Hopefully, Russia will be able to utilize this to bring the Syrian situation to an end.

 

[pher]

Yes, I liked the statement, but, a formal declaration would be a more powerful geopolitical statement which would make the West encroaching on both China and Russia think twice.

It is very interesting observation about Turkey. Turkey is not to be trusted even on a solid pragmatist basis; essentially, they are on the Western camp no matter what happens, that is just in the gene of right wing governments. Hopefully, Russia will be able to utilize this to bring the Syrian situation to an end.

If we make a formal declaration now, which will offically announce the new global cold war begins. It is a bit rush but I believe it will arrive soon. Couldn't help to wait that great moment come.

The following is the ads appearing on Russian street, which remind us that Russia is ready.