Weekend Long Read: Zhou Xiaochuan Weighs In on the BRI Debate

The author is China’s former central bank governor.

This year marks the 10th anniversary of President Xi Jinping’s proposal for the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). The BRI has garnered global attention, and there is a host of issues ripe for economic and financial analysis, research, and better design for the future.

I want to focus my analysis on three areas: the so-called “debt trap” narrative, the characteristics and economic logic of China’s global investment and financing, and issues that need to be addressed in the next phase of the BRI.