One Belt And One Road:An Emerging Transcontinental Trade Heaven

This research study aims to investigate the economic advantages,com-prehensive strategic partnership,associated problems and potential risks and challenges of the "One Belt and One Road" New Silk Road initiative and develop the whole region into transcontinental trade heaven.This study will theoretically analyse economic aspects and benefits of the six corridors of the Silk Road Economic Belt(One Belt)and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road(One Road).This study also aims to investigate and discuss the possi-bilities and advantages of comprehensive trade cooperation and freight cost minimization through improved transport infrastructure.OBOR is the part of China's regional development plan which will reduce the imbalances of economic development between different regions and ethnic groups.Xinjiang(Uyghur Autonomous Region)will be the core area for Silk Road Economic Belt and Fujian will be core area for 21st Century Maritime Silk Road.There are various development projects planned for this area which will be discussed in detail.The Silk Road entails Trans-Eurasian network of diverse historic land and maritime trade routes connecting China to South Asia,Southwest Asia,Southeast Asia,Central Asia,East Asia,the Mediterranean and the Northern Europe.Silk Road trade played a very important rule in regional economic development and established long distance economic,cultural and political relationship between Chinese,Turks,Persians,Arabs,Indians.Romans,Bactrians,Georgians,Armenians,Syrians,Greeks and Sogdians.This study is planned to discuss the economic aspects of the Ancient Silk Road to One Belt and One Road(OBOR)New Silk Road initiative.First part discusses about the beginning of ancient silk road and basic introduction of "One Belt and One Road" New Silk Road iniative.Tracde,culture and ideas flourished on ancient trade route from 100 BC to 1450 AC.Merchants from different cul-tures,religions,traditions and economic backgrounds travelled across Ancient Silk Road,which resulted exchange of ideas,religions,customs and cultures.Silk,coin and papers were the main commodities traded on the silk trade route but the Chinese silk was the main luxurious and expensive commodity due to its unique characteristics.So,huge demand for silk clothes encouraged the development of silk industry and increase in government revenues.Merchants started travelling on different routes to reach the market and Chinese emperors made huge investment on the development and protection of these trade routes.During the great Han Dynasty period(200 B.C to 400 A.D)there were four connections between Europe and China known as the northern land route,central land route,southern sea route and southern sea route.But central route gained more importance because it was safe and new markets were established to boost trade and economic development.Central route was stretched from Northwest China to Black sea,Syria,North Persia and Turkistan.Furthermore,the northern route of Ancient Silk road was started from the capital of the Han Dynasty Chang'an,stretched towards the ancient kingdoms of Persia,Parthia,Rome and Bactria to facilitate military movements,trade and cultural exchanges.The main commodities traded on this route were saffron powder,pistachio nuts and dates from Persia,myrrh and aloes from Somalia,glass bottles from Egypt,sandal wood from India and other expensive luxury goods from different parts of the world.Later,Tang Dynasty(618-907 A.D)also played a special role in further development of northern trade route.The Southern route also know the the "Caravan Route" was mainly a route crossing through the high altitude Karakorams mountain and Hindu Kush mountains to connect Khushan Empire with Ancient China during 30-375 BCE.This route achieved huge economic success and was considered as the safest transit passage to the Mediterranean.Proper financial system was introduced though minting coins to facilitate business activities and silk,precious metals,wines,Roman war objects,handicrafts,agricultural goods,luxury articles and consumer goods were traded.So,this area become the centre of trade,cultural exchange,Kushan empire also developed trade,economic and cultural relationship with Roman Empire,Sansanian Persia,Aksumite Empire and Han China but everything diminished with time.Maritime trade was started by Emperor Wu-ti who sent native ships loaded with silk to Malay Peninsula for selling.It was a big success and the Greeks and Indian traders played their rule as middlemen.So it initiated short-distance coastal trips instead of covering long distances by sea.After that Tang Dynasty focused on maritime commerce to increase government revenues and the Canton(Guangzhou)emerged as the centre of maritime trade activities.Further develop-ments will be discussed in detail.Recently China has acknowledged the importance of vital geo-strategic location of ancient trade route and taking big steps to develop New Silk Road on the footsteps of Ancient Silk Road through "One Belt and One Road" initiative and establishing six land corridors along with the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road."One Belt and One Road " is a key international project with an expected investment of US $4 to $8 trillion on more than 900 projects which will benefit more than 60 countries.One Belt and One Road program will mainly benefit 16 Central and Eastern Europe countries i.e.Romania,Poland,Bulgaria,Slovenia,Lithuania;11 Commonwealth of the Independent States i.e.Kazakhstan,Ukraine,Kyrgyzstan;16 North Africa&West Asia countries i.e.United Arab Emirates,Saudi Arabia,Israel,Egypt,Turkey,Iran,8 South Asian countries i.e.India,Pakistan,Nepal and 11 Southeast Asian countries i.e.Vietnam,Thailand,Malaysia,Singapore.So,countries show their interests with expectation of increasing export,FDI,and better infrastructures.China is focused on infrastructure building,trade facilitation,financial integration,cultural and education exchange as its One Belt and One Road strat-egy.One Belt and One Road(OBOR)consist of two elements;(1)One Belt-The Silk Road Economic Belt(2)One Road-The 21st Century Maritime Silk Road.The Silk Road Economic Belt is combination of various six projects and transcontinental trade corridors as New Eurasian Land Bridge,China-Mongolia-Russia Corridor,China-Central Asia-West Asia Corridor,China-Indochina Peninsula Corridor,China-Bangladesh-India-Myanmar Cor-ridor and China Pakistan Economic Corridor.It is further discussed in different chapters of dissertation.Secord part discusses about the New Eurasian Land Bridge(NELB)which is a transcontinental railroad network and a very important part of the silk road economic belt.It connects port of Lianyungang,Jiangsu China with Rotterdam,Western Europe and expected to be the cheaper than air-transit and faster than sea-transit and we will discuss it in detail.NELB will be the major trade consignment connection between China and Europe and run across seven major provinces within China.China Railway Corporation(CRC)and China Railway Group(CRG)also investing on different high-speed railway projects within Europe i.e.the Budapest-Belgrade Railway.The Hungarian State Railway Corporation has signed join venture with CRC and CRG to build 340 Km long high-speed railway track between Budapest,Hungry and Belgrade,Serbia.This project has unique importance for China which will be discussed in detail.Furthermore,it will connect Kazakhstan,Russia,Poland,Germany and reach destination through three major railway connections which will be discussed in detail.Germany,Poland and Russia are China's biggest trade partners and NELB will be the new era of economic development and trade cooperation.This study will also focus on various trade reforms and mutual cooperation agreements which will minimize the travelling cost and delivery time i.e.Custom clearance,dry ports,industrial parks and free trade agreements.Custom clearance is considered to be the biggest challenge in land-route transit of trade consignments.So China is negotiating with Russia,Poland and Kazakhstan to reduce the cost and time required for border clearance.Establishment of new dry ports is very important for the success of the New Eurasian Land bridge(NELB)so China is making huge investment at Khorgos Special Economic Zone which will serve as the dry port,logistic zone and industrial zone.It will have 6 full length tracks with 3 narrow and 3 wide gauges with a capacity to accommodate all types of freight traffic.Dry port will have RTG's,RMG's,reach stackers,handlers and wide area with scanning and weighbridge farcicalities which help to reduce average transhipment time to 47 minutes(Full Train).Khorgos Special Economic Zone involves tax benefits,foreign direct investment,foreign workforce,simplified custom formalities and many other benefits for Kazakhstan,China,Central Asian and Europe which will be discussed in details.This is just a start which will lead many other future projects resulting trade and economic development in the whole region.So,the New Eurasian Land Bridge is a game changer and it will emerge as the cheapest,fastest and safest transcontinental passage between Europe and Asia.Third part will discuss about the new transport infrastructure,economic development and trade potential of China-Mongolia-Russia corridor(CMREC).Mongolia already has 16 national ports(3 aviation and 13 land ports)yet only the Erenhot railway port is connected to China.Mongolia is full of natural resources(zinc,coper,iron,petroleum)and have huge trade potential so China is interested to increase trade cooperation and bilateral relations with Mongolia.China and Mongolia has already included 32 project in One Belt and One Road(OBOR)New Silk Road initiative and 13 out of 32 will mainly focus on transportation infrastructure which will be discussed in detail.Russia is largest country with abundant natural resources and China's one the biggest trade partner.So,Russia is cooperating with China one development of railroad transport infrastructure.China-Mongolia-Russia Corridor will consist of two high speed rail-road connections which will connect different cities of China,Mongolia and Russia with Western Europe.First,Hebei-Tianjin-Beijing to Russia route will run across Hohhot,Inner Mongolia.Second,Dalian(China)to Chita(Russia)will connect through Changchun,Shenyang,Herbin,Manzhouli and Inner Mongolia.Freight trains are already in operation on this route which connects major cities including Guangzhou,Tianjin,Shenyang and Suzhou but northern passageway is under construction which will connect Bohai Bay with Western Europe.China,Mongolia and Russia are also negotiating various trade reforms to reduced transportation cost and traveling time of trade consignments.We will also discuss China's investment along the CMREC i.e.China-Belarus Industrial Park.China is planning to establish special economic zones,free trade areas and industrial parks on different prime locations to reduce tariff and minimize transportzation cost.China-Belarus Industrial park is a good start because Belarus share its border with the European Union and Russia.Industrial Park is located 25 km from the capital city of Minsk and has the total area of 91.5 Km2 divided into three zones which will be discussed in detail.Furthermore,the park will have rail road connections with Warsaw,Istanbul,Berlin,Moscow,Tehran,Aktau,Samarqand,Bishkek,Dushanbe,Astana,Khorgos and Urumqi.So,the China-Mongolia-Russia Corridor will start new era of trade and economic development along the route which will be discussed in detail.Fourth part discusses about the China-Central Asia-West Asia Corridor(CCWAEC)which is basically a gateway for natural resources(oil,natural gas)running though Arabian Peninsula,Iran,Turkey and Xinjiang,China.The China Central Asia gas pipeline will connect Uzbekistan,Turkmenistan,Southern Kazakhstan to Horgos,Xinjian and considered to be world's largest gas pipeline.This gas pipeline will connect West-East gas pipeline and enter in China.China-Central Asia-West Asia Corridor(CCWAEC)is very important part of China's One Belt and One Road(OBOR)New Silk Road initiative and covers various projects in Tajikistan,Turkmenistan,Uzbekistan,Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan to boost trade cooperation and economic development.We will discuss current status,potential risks and challenges and future goals and opportunities of CCWAEC's various projects in detail.Furthermore,most of the Central Asian countries are landlocked with limited availability of transport infrastructure so China is planning to build high speed railroad network to access untapped natural recourses i.e.Copper,Aluminium,Iron,Zinc.Secondly,Central Asian courtiers has huge demand for Made in China products and improved transport infrastructure will result an increase in Chinese Exports to Central Asia.We will discuss transport network in detail.China seeks long term cooperation with Kazakhstan,Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan and investing in Nuclear Energy,Renewable Energy and Aerospace Technology.China-Gulf Cooperation Free Trade Agreement will also play a very important rule.We will also discuss the various current project's updates,potential risks and challenges and future goals and opportunities in detail.Fifth part will discuss about the China-Indochina Peninsula Corridor(CICPEC)which aimed to increase China's trade relations with Singapore and Vietnam though "One Belt and One Road" New Silk Road initiative.China is planning to boost economic growth in South China by establishing special economic development zones and connecting Guangzhou,Shenzhen and Hong Kong with Singapore,Vietnam,Laos,Thailand and Singapore though high-tech transport infrastructure.Road network and new high-speed railway will run along Pearl River to connect Singapore with South China.China is singing new trade cooperation and transport infrastructure agreements as part of the China's One Belt and One Road(OBOR)initiative which we will discuss in detail.Sixth part discusses the China-Bangladesh-India-Myanmar Economic Corridor(CBIMEC)which will connect China with India,Myanmar and Bangladesh.CBIMEC will comprehensive trade link between Kolkata,Dhaka,Sylhet,Imphal,Tamu,Mandalay,Lashio,Ruili Bhamo and Kunming.So,this will also be an alternative route to bypass the Strait of Malacca.China is ambitious to develop Chinese Yunnan region through One Belt and One Road initiative and connect it with North East India,Bangladesh and Myanmar though comprehensive railroad network,waterways,and airways.CBIMEC also includes various projects related to conventional and renewable energy to meet the increasing energy demand and hydroelectric resources this region can play a big rule.This region also has a huge potential for agricultural in-dustries and member countries can benefit though various projects of One Belt and One Road initiative which will be discussed in detail.India is World's 5th largest market and China's one of the biggest trade partner so its's rule is very important in the success of the China-Bangladesh-India-Myanmar Economic Corridor.China seeks huge cooperation from India and One Belt and One Road program offers various projects to India including the development of ports and logistics infrastructure,industrial infrastructure(Regional Industries,Emerging Industries),Transport infrastructure(railroad connectivity,custom clearance,multimodal transport),Urbanization and small cities,travel and tourism,energy infrastructure,communication and information infrastructure and Real estate.Furthermore,China interested to improve trade,industrial cooperation and investment facilitation to boost economic growth in South Asia.Chinese companies are investing in solar,service and professional training,steel,energy and telecommunication sector.We will discuss about various projects,economic significance and future challenges related to CBMEC in detail.Seventh part discusses about the China Pakistan Economic Corridor(CPEC)which gained a unique geopolitical and strategic importance because it is the shortest route to Indian Ocean,Middle East and Persian Gulf though Gwadar port.China Pakistan Economic Corridor also has historical importance because ancient "Kushan Empire" flourished in this area recording a huge success in the development of trade,cultural exchange and commerce.China has emerged as the world's biggest economy and has huge merchandise trade through sea which takes 45 days incurring high cost of transportation.Secondly,China want to develop Western part of "Hu Huangyong Line" though One Belt and One Road initiative and China Pakistan Economic Corridor(CPEC)will play a significance rule which will be discussed in detail.So,China is investing US 46$ billion in various projects including,energy,services and transport infrastructure to ensure regional connectivity.Transport infrastructure play vital rule in the social well-being and sustainable economic development by ensuring the safe and fast mobility of people and freight so China will provide an investment of US $ 7.8 Billion to improve Pakistan's transport infrastructure.China and Pakistan has signed various railroad construction projects and few of them are already completed though "Early Harvest" program.Pakistan has become 6th highly populated country in the work and few big city have serious transport problems.A highly developed mass transit system is required to accommodate increasing population so 27.1 km Lahore Orange Line mass transit system has been included in China Pakistan Economic Corridor(CPEC)as an experiment which will transport 250,000 passengers daily.Pakistan's energy sector is in crisis and electricity shortfall crossed 6,000 MW so China will invest US $ 33.728 billion in more than 24 energy projects which will be discussed in detail.Furthermore,Gwadar port is the key project of China Pakistan Economic Corridor which will be Pakistan biggest sea port after Port Qasim and Karachi Port with a huge cargo ship handling capacity.CPEC aims the development of whole region and it includes various project associated with the Gwadar deep sea port i.e.Gwadar Mega City,Gwadar Free Trade Area,fresh water treatment plants,technical and vocational institute and China-Pakistan friendship hospital.So,CPEC will be a game game changer for whole region resulting trade cooperation,commerce and economic development.And the last part discusses about the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road and its significance.China is using the Pacific,the Atlantic and the Indian Ocean for the trade purpose.China is planning to access Indian Ocean through China Pakistan Economic Corridor and Gwadar port.It also links China with Persian Gulf and Mediterranean to reach oil and gas deposits.Along with The Silk Road Economic belt,China will be connected to Europe and the Horn of Africa through South China Sea and Indian Ocean.Both belt and road routes of the Belt and the Road meet at Venice.We will discuss about maritime silk road in detail.This study summarizes the economic advantages of One Belt and One Road initiative and develop whole region as an emerging transcontinental trade heaven.Furthermore,this study also discusses the reforms including trade liberalization,financial integration,opening of new markets and measures to reduce non-tariff barriers.There are various legal and financial challenges associated with opening up for new foreign markets,social instability,political ties and regional issues which can be solved through proper identification of project,sector,country and business partners.One Belt and One Road is a new concept with a huge research gape because most of the project details and local development plans are not available for public.Research modification is always required on the basis of regular project updates.The further research direction might be the deeper modeling and econometric analysis of One Belt and One Road initiative.Many out 900 projects are closer to completion stage and data will be made public for research research purpose.The possible further study will help us to find more prospects of One Belt and One Road program.