Main content

China's global project has a new rival

Can Biden's Build Back Better World be a true rival to Xi's Belt and Road Initiative?

At their annual summit in Britain this year, the group of seven industrialised nations, or G7, has agreed to an infrastructure development plan for developing countries. The Build Back Better World – or B3W – is seen as an alternative to the multi-trillion dollar Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) launched by China about a decade ago. The BRI has been a relatively easy source of funding for power plants, mining, road building and a range of other development projects, and more than 100 countries have partnered with Beijing as part of the scheme. But these projects are not without controversy and there are questions about China's long-term intentions in the countries taking part.

The White House says its plan is not about confronting China, but about providing a better and more transparent alternative that reflects the democratic values of the countries involved. But critics say that without a consistent China policy across its member states the G7 plan is bound to face difficulties. What exactly is B3W trying to achieve and how will it benefit the developing world? Will it compete or compliment China's BRI? Can the G7 strategy be as consistent as China's? And how open will developing countries be to accepting the promotion of Western values? Ritula Shah is joined by a panel of experts.

Available now

50 minutes

Contributors

Yu Jie - Senior Research Fellow on China at the London based think tank Chatham House

Ian Bremmer - President and founder of Eurasia Group

Lina Benabdallah - Assistant Professor of Politics and International Affairs at Wake Forest University

Harry G. Broadman - Chair of the Emerging Markets Practice at the Berkeley Research Group LLC

Picture

A Chinese freight train arrives in London after a 12,000km journey - Credit: PA

Broadcasts

  • Fri 18 Jun 2021 09:06GMT
  • Fri 18 Jun 2021 23:06GMT
  • Sat 19 Jun 2021 03:06GMT

The Real Story Podcast

Subscribe via your favourite podcast app...

Podcast