4. The Effects of the Belt and Road Initiative on China’s Domestic Economy

The effects of the BRI on China’s internal economy and on the global economy are discussed. The chapter begins with a discussion of the challenges and opportunities of China’s domestic economy. The challenges are China’s labour market, the distribution of income and achieving a sustainable economic growth. The opportunities are finding new markets and investment, China’s move towards the innovation frontier and the globalization of China’s economy. If such challenges and opportunities are managed well they will become China’s most important drivers of economic growth and development. China is in the process of globalizing her economy through her ‘go out policy’ which will have an impact on a global scale and so will cause a shift from a unipolar towards a multipolar world order.