OpinionThinking About China

China’s Belt and Road Suffers Another Setback

The prospect of Italy’s withdrawal and other dissatisfied or troubled clients are shaking this once-imposing initiative.
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China’s Belt and Road Suffers Another Setback
The Trieste Old Port in Trieste, Italy, on Apr. 2, 2019. The historic city is preparing to open its new port to China, with Italy becoming the first G7 nation to sign on to China’s BRI infrastructure project. Marco Di Lauro/Getty Images
Milton Ezrati
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Commentary
Xi Jinping’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI, also known as One Belt, One Road) faced difficulties even before Italy began talking about withdrawing from the project. Now, the loss of Rome will deal an especially hard blow to this once-imposing strategy.
Milton Ezrati
Milton Ezrati
Author
Milton Ezrati is a contributing editor at The National Interest, an affiliate of the Center for the Study of Human Capital at the University at Buffalo (SUNY), and chief economist for Vested, a New York-based communications firm. Before joining Vested, he served as chief market strategist and economist for Lord, Abbett & Co. He also writes frequently for City Journal and blogs regularly for Forbes. His latest book is "Thirty Tomorrows: The Next Three Decades of Globalization, Demographics, and How We Will Live."
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