Introduction The China-led Belt and Road Initiative and its reflections

This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book focuses on the rise of China and the logic behind the creation of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), including its impacts and interlinks with the Global Political Economy. It argues that China is underway to meet the first two of these dimensions of hegemony. The book focuses on China's industrialization and its impact on the emergence of the BRI in 2013. It investigates China's BRI investments in Ethiopia and their impact on the national economy. The book argues that China's investment and China-financed infrastructure projects play a positive role in pushing West Balkans to join the EU, Chinese funds and technologies not only promote the livelihood of the people in the region but help integrate the region's transport and energy networks into the existing Trans-European Networks and Pan-European Corridors.