Against the prevailing narrative of the The Belt and Road as a top-down strategy to spread China’s geopolitical influence, there is the BRI’s impact through its first decade as emanating «from the middle out and bottom up» via transport-enabled corridors traversing a large number of regions within and across national territories.

The trade relationship between China and the US has been deteriorating, a trend that began during the Trump administration and has continued under Biden. While the EU has been more cautious in its approach, its patience with China’s trade practices is wearing thin, leading to potential further strain in the trade relationship between China and the West.