Original publication date: December 2016

This document is structured as a series of frequently asked questions regarding BRI. It is meant to provide civil society groups a brief introduction to China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), which was announced by Chinese President Xi Jinping in 2013. Beginning in Western China and ending in Central and Eastern Europe, the Belt and Road Initiative is immense in scale and ambitious in its political and economic goals.

BRI is a renewed extension of China's 2001 Going Out Policy, which marked the first wave of Chinese overseas investments. Like the Going Out policy, BRI calls on Chinese businesses and industries to "go out" and heighten internationalization efforts. Given the immensity of BRI, however, its success will largely depend on how Chinese policy makers, developers, banks, and other stakeholders engage with civil society in managing BRI's political, environmental, social, and climate impacts...