102
growth, while strengthening China’s energy security by diversifying energy
resources. In his view, the New Silk Road Strategy consists of five posits:
1. Strengthening policy communication, which may help facilitate joint economic
cooperation.
2. Strengthening road connections, establishing a great transport corridor from the
Pacific Ocean to the Baltic Sea, and from Central Asia to the Indian Ocean,
gradually building a network of transport connections across all of Asia.
3. Strengthening trade, with a focus on eliminating barriers and investment
expenses.
4. Strengthening monetary cooperation, with special attention to currency settlements that could decrease transaction costs and lessen financial risk while
increasing economic competitiveness.
5. Strengthening people-to-people relations. (Zhi 2016:73)
Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank
With the aim of supporting major international projects in the name of national
interests, in 2013, China launched an initiative to establish a new multilateral development institution; the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank. As Chinese officials
stated, the AIIB could help funnel the multitrillion-dollar work needed to fund the
development of roads, ports, power plants, railways, and other infrastructure projects needed by the world’s fast-growing region (www.foreignaffairs.com 2017).
Some analysts believe that financial mechanisms such as AIIB have been developed to help China achieve goals such as the New Silk Road. This opinion was
openly refuted by officials upon the bank’s inauguration, who stated that “It is critical for the foreign community to recognize that the Asian Infrastructure Investment
Bank is a multilateral bank. And it is the bank’s shareholders that will determine the
bank’s lending policy, rather than Beijing. For the moment, there are many Chinese
nationals working at the bank, but the AIIB’s Chairman hopes to reduce this share
to just 40% in the coming years. Beijing established the bank in recognition that
Asia’s infrastructure demands, and multilateral lending to finance the construction
of the region’s infrastructure was insufficient to meet demand. The fact that the
AIIB is focused on similar markets to the country’s Belt and Road policy is not a
coincidence. But it would be wrong to assume that the AIIB was created to help
Chinese companies win more construction projects abroad. The bank’s structure,
board of governors, and shareholders would not permit this. The China ExportImport Bank is a policy bank. It behaves much the same as policy banks in the rest
of the world, such as the US Exim Bank or Japan’s BIC. The bank will intentionally
support Chinese companies seeking to win deals abroad by providing cheap financing to countries or companies engaging Chinese companies or buying Chinese
equipment” (Author’s interview with Ben Simpfendorfer 2017).
3 International Context of the New Era and the Caspian Sea Region
growth, while strengthening China’s energy security by diversifying energy
resources. In his view, the New Silk Road Strategy consists of five posits:
1. Strengthening policy communication, which may help facilitate joint economic
cooperation.
2. Strengthening road connections, establishing a great transport corridor from the
Pacific Ocean to the Baltic Sea, and from Central Asia to the Indian Ocean,
gradually building a network of transport connections across all of Asia.
3. Strengthening trade, with a focus on eliminating barriers and investment
expenses.
4. Strengthening monetary cooperation, with special attention to currency settlements that could decrease transaction costs and lessen financial risk while
increasing economic competitiveness.
5. Strengthening people-to-people relations. (Zhi 2016:73)
Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank
With the aim of supporting major international projects in the name of national
interests, in 2013, China launched an initiative to establish a new multilateral development institution; the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank. As Chinese officials
stated, the AIIB could help funnel the multitrillion-dollar work needed to fund the
development of roads, ports, power plants, railways, and other infrastructure projects needed by the world’s fast-growing region (www.foreignaffairs.com 2017).
Some analysts believe that financial mechanisms such as AIIB have been developed to help China achieve goals such as the New Silk Road. This opinion was
openly refuted by officials upon the bank’s inauguration, who stated that “It is critical for the foreign community to recognize that the Asian Infrastructure Investment
Bank is a multilateral bank. And it is the bank’s shareholders that will determine the
bank’s lending policy, rather than Beijing. For the moment, there are many Chinese
nationals working at the bank, but the AIIB’s Chairman hopes to reduce this share
to just 40% in the coming years. Beijing established the bank in recognition that
Asia’s infrastructure demands, and multilateral lending to finance the construction
of the region’s infrastructure was insufficient to meet demand. The fact that the
AIIB is focused on similar markets to the country’s Belt and Road policy is not a
coincidence. But it would be wrong to assume that the AIIB was created to help
Chinese companies win more construction projects abroad. The bank’s structure,
board of governors, and shareholders would not permit this. The China ExportImport Bank is a policy bank. It behaves much the same as policy banks in the rest
of the world, such as the US Exim Bank or Japan’s BIC. The bank will intentionally
support Chinese companies seeking to win deals abroad by providing cheap financing to countries or companies engaging Chinese companies or buying Chinese
equipment” (Author’s interview with Ben Simpfendorfer 2017).
3 International Context of the New Era and the Caspian Sea Region