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The Belt and Road Initiative pp 203–235Cite as

Palgrave Macmillan

The Chinese Partnerships and “the Belt and Road” Initiative: A Synergetic Affiliation

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Abstract

In 2013, Chinese President Xi Jinping proposed the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) whose principles of “extensive consultation, joint efforts, shared and mutual benefits” have been recognized and supported by many countries. More and more countries have actively participated in the construction of BRI. Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC), Xi Jinping, the General Secretary of the Party Central Committee, has put forward the concept of diplomacy with Chinese characteristics by establishing partnerships and kept in mind both the domestic and international situations. To date, China has established more than one hundred partnerships with other countries or international organizations around the world. The year 2014 became the year of China’s diplomatic harvest: China established partnerships with eight countries and upgraded or deepened its partnerships with twenty-two countries. This chapter examines the relationship between Chinese partnerships and the BRI by analyzing the establishment and upgrading of Chinese partnerships with countries that have signed BRI cooperation documents with China. It also looks at the impact of the BRI on the establishment, upgrading and deepening of partnerships.

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Notes

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    All partnerships listed in this article are limited to countries. But China also has partnerships with many international organizations such as ASEAN (1997), EU (1998), Arab League (2004), AU (2006), and CELAC (2014).

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  31. 31.

    The most recent dates that these 26 countries established or upgraded their partnerships with China are as follows: Nigeria (2005), Jamaica (2005), South Africa (2010), Angola (2010), Turkey (2010), Kenya (2013), Tanzania (2013), Thailand (2013), Romania (2013), Ukraine (2013), Algeria (2014), Korea (2014), Fiji (2014), New Zealand (2014), Venezuela (2014), Sudan (2015), Equatorial Guinea (2015), Liberia (2015), Costa Rica (2015), Republic of Congo (2016), Senegal (2016), Sierra Leone (2016), Guinea (2016), Gabon (2016), Peru (2016), and Bolivia (2018).

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  40. 40.

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  41. 41.

    Ibid., 41.

  42. 42.

    To quote Bucknall 1999, “guanxi”: To get around this, people develop a network of contacts and personal relationships for whom they do favours and from whom they ask favours in return, see Kevin Barry Bucknall, Chinese Business Etiquette and Culture, Boson Books, 1999, p. 15.

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  49. 49.

    Ibid., 41.

  50. 50.

    Belt and Road Forum. (27 April 2019). Toast by H.E. Xi Jinping President of the People’s Republic of China at the Welcoming Banquet of the Second Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation. Retrieved on 15 September 2019, from http://www.beltandroadforum.org/english/n100/2019/0429/c22-1400.html.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. City University of Macau, Macau, People’s Republic of China

    Yichao Li & Mário Barbosa Vicente

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  1. Yichao Li
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  2. Mário Barbosa Vicente
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Correspondence to Yichao Li .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. City University of Macau, Macau SAR, China

    Francisco José B. S. Leandro

  2. Research Centre in Political Science, University of Minho, Braga, Portugal

    Paulo Afonso B. Duarte

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Li, Y., Vicente, M.B. (2020). The Chinese Partnerships and “the Belt and Road” Initiative: A Synergetic Affiliation. In: Leandro, F., Duarte, P. (eds) The Belt and Road Initiative. Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-2564-3_9

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