中文
By Maya Majueran
Lead: While addressing critical infrastructure gaps across the Global South, the Belt and Road Initiative is increasingly focused on high-quality development and sustainable growth in partner countries.
More than a decade after its launch, the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) remains one of the most innovative contributions to global development. From the start, the initiative drew global attention not just for its scale, but for addressing infrastructure gaps that Western-led institutions had long struggled to fill.
By investing in ports, railways and energy corridors across Asia, Africa, Latin America and beyond, China offered developing countries new pathways for growth and deeper integration into global markets.
Beyond simple construction, the BRI highlighted Beijing's ability to deliver key public goods like transport, energy and digital infrastructure, all while strengthening economic cooperation across regions.
In doing so, China advanced a more inclusive model of connectivity that addresses the structural development gaps long faced by the Global South, offering partner countries greater agency in shaping their own growth trajectories.
Heading into 2026, the BRI will continue to be focused on high-quality development and sustainable growth in partner countries. The high-quality BRI prioritizes financial sustainability, environmental responsibility and long-term resilience over mere scale. It aligns projects more closely with partner countries' development needs, reflecting a shift toward durable cooperation instead of rapid expansion.
This transformation signals not a decline in China's commitment but a sophisticated recognition that global conditions, from rising geopolitical frictions to tighter financial environments, demand a more focused and resilient model of cooperation. It underscores Beijing's ability to recalibrate its development strategy so the BRI remains sustainable, impactful and attuned to the evolving needs of partner countries.
This adaptive mindset mirrors China's domestic policy approach, where strategies are continually refined to meet emerging challenges and position the country for long-term success.
Over recent years, the recalibration has been unmistakable. The old logic of "bigger is better" has given way to "small and beautiful" initiatives that prioritize efficiency and impact. The new face of the BRI is no longer a distant coal plant but a solar farm in Central Asia, a smart-city pilot in Southeast Asia, or a telemedicine network built through the Health Silk Road.
This shift shows that Beijing has accurately read the emerging global landscape: countries now prioritize sustainability, digital transformation and long-term resilience.
The most significant change is in the financing toolkit. The once-dominant reliance on large sovereign loans is giving way to a more diversified and sophisticated portfolio. Public-private partnerships, syndicated lending with multilateral development banks and greater use of equity investments are becoming more common.
Yuan-denominated loans and bilateral currency swaps are also moving to the forefront, strengthening financial cooperation while reducing exposure to dollar-based volatility. Together, these instruments signal a BRI that is more flexible, market-driven and structurally resilient.
The aim is clear: to allocate risk more wisely and ground projects in sound commercial logic rather than symbolic landmarks. Here, China demonstrates its ability to absorb and innovate upon Western financial norms, channeling them toward the development priorities of the Global South, ensuring the BRI's evolution into a lasting engine of international growth and cooperation.
Meanwhile, the G7's Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment and the EU's Global Gateway have positioned themselves as "value-driven" alternatives, explicitly crafted to counter China's growing influence. Yet the BRI has remained anchored in its core principles, recognizing that development needs across the Global South have long been neglected by the very Western actors now offering competing initiatives.
China's approach speaks directly to these unmet demands, addressing gaps that others overlooked for decades. As a result, the BRI has doubled down on local engagement and alignment with national development priorities. The message to the Global South is clear: China can continue to deliver faster, more efficiently and without the political conditionalities that often accompany Western financing.
So, what lies ahead for 2026? The BRI is entering a new era of institutionalization and narrative influence, one in which building resilience and sustain ability with improved global governance matters as much as building infrastructure.
First, the shift will continue from ribbon-cutting to revenue generation. For corridors such as the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, the central question will no longer be "Is the road built?" but rather "Are the logistics parks thriving? Are the industrial zones active? Is trade flowing at scale?"
The same logic applies to projects like the China-Laos Railway, where success will increasingly be measured by passenger volumes, freight demand and the growth in cross-border commerce. The BRI's progress will thus be judged more by profitability, industrial linkages, and supply chain integration than by kilometers paved or tracks laid.
Second, the Digital and Green Silk Roads will become the central pillars of a high-quality BRI. This is where China's technological strengths and industrial advantages align most clearly with global demand. Exports of 5G networks, e-commerce platforms, open-source AI systems and renewable-energy technologies are no longer isolated projects; they are ecosystems integrated with partner countries' infrastructure.
This represents strategic, deep and long-term partnerships, shaping how the Global South connects, trades and transitions to a low-carbon future in ways that remain both accessible and affordable.
Finally, the BRI is going to become more results-oriented. Investments will be directed more deliberately toward countries with emerging development needs, particularly those seeking to boost economic growth, expand trade, create jobs and build more resilient supply chains.
A new phase of the BRI is taking shape, defined by high-quality, enhanced efficiency, digital innovation, and green upgrading. China will continue to position itself as a pragmatic and reliable partner, especially for those who seek a meaningful alternative to traditional development systems that have long served the interests of a handful of wealthy countries.
Maya Majueran is the founding director of Belt and Road Initiative Sri Lanka (BRISL), an organization dedicated to research and dialogue on the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).
He is also a researcher and commentator on international relations, economics and geopolitics, focusing on Asia and the Global South's evolving role in world affairs.
