On a visit to Kazakhstan in 2013, Xi Jinping reminded his hosts of their shared commercial ties along the Silk Road, stretching back millennia. The Chinese president went on to propose the establishment of a Silk Road Economic Belt to bring new prosperity to Asia. The speech barely registered in the international media but less than two years later, the so-called One Belt, One Road plan — incorporating a Maritime Silk Road — has become the centrepiece of the president’s foreign policy and international economic strategy. Important commercial consequences for the region and global companies will go hand-in-hand with unpredictable geopolitical implications in parts of the world where the US, Japan, India and Russia all have material and competing interests.
2013年習近平出訪哈薩克時，提醒東道主兩國沿「絲綢之路」(Silk Road)擁有共同的商業紐帶，其歷史可以追溯到兩千多年以前。這位中國國家主席接著提議建設「絲綢之路經濟帶」(Silk Road Economic Belt)，爲亞洲帶來新的繁榮。習近平此次講話幾乎沒引起國際媒體注意，但不到兩年後，這個所謂的「一帶一路」(One Belt, One Road)計劃——結合海上絲綢之路——成了習近平外交政策和國際經濟戰略的核心。「一帶一路」計劃將對該地區和全球企業產生重大商業影響，同時將給這片美國、日本、印度和俄羅斯幾國都存在重大而彼此衝突的利益的地區，帶來不可預知的地緣政治影響。