Page 32 - Azerbaijan State University of Economics

THE JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC SCIENCES: THEORY AND PRACTICE, V.75, # 1, 2018, pp. 32-41

Understanding the Global Shift
China’s Development and The Belt and Road Initiative

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Fabio Massimo Parenti
Associate Professor (ASN)
Economic and Political Geography
The Italian International Institute Lorenzo de' Medici
e-mail: fabiomassimos@gmail.com

Received 09 February 2018; accepted 18 May 2018; published online 25 June 2018

Abstract

Some scholars have been clearly depicting a process of global shift in the
redistribution of economic and political power. In this paper, I start from some key
figures to show the extent of changes in trade flows geography and their direct
relation with the new weight and role of China. However, in order to understand
correctly the China’s ascent, it is necessary to provide also a brief overview of the
fundamental components of its developmental path and its approach to global
affairs, both of them embedded in China’s medium and long-term objectives.
Finally, a case study on the Belt and Road Initiative, its geopolitical and economic

meaning, will help to explain better the intertwined relations between Chinese
domestic and foreign policies, as well as its peculiarities and international impact.

Key words: Global Shift; China’s Developmental Path; Belt and Road Initiative;
Trade; Geopolitics

JEL Classification: F50; F550; O10; O20

Tectonic Movements and the China’s Development

We should be conscious that the international system is currently undergoing a
process of huge changes, which I call “tectonic movements” for they intensity and
structural nature. Two examples. In 1995, the global quota of Europe-Asia goods
traffic was 27% and the transpacific one was 53%; after 20 years, these numbers are
respectively 42% and 44%. Secondly, in 2001 the Mediterranean macro region
absorbed 34% of the traffic coming through Suez, in 2016 the quota increased to

1 Fabio Massimo Parenti, Ph.D., is Associate Professor (ASN) in Economic and Political
Geography at the Italian International Institute Lorenzo de’ Medici, Florence and
Rome. He collaborates with the China Foreign Affairs University, Beijing, Southern
New Hampshire University, Manchester, and ITESM, Mexico City. He is member of
EURISPES, Laboratorio BRICS, and Researcher of Central China Economic Region
Research Institute (CCERRI), Zhengzhou. He teaches the following courses: Global
Financial Markets, China’s Development and the Global Shift, Globalization and Social
Change, War and Media.
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