The Chinese Belt Road Initiative was described by a contributor to a midweek Webinar this week as a ‘ brilliant marketing campaign’. What exactly was being marketed was unclear but China have to date spent $2 trillion reaching out across the nations to create Ports, Robotic Centres and technology in many nations. The strategy was to impact the China brand, the China way and all ways China.
The Belt road is not like some imagine a literal road like the M4 or M25 but an imaginary roll out of Imperial rejuvenation under modern Emperor Xi Jinping. The mimic of course was the Silk Road , Marco Polo style with pasta and rice exchange. Huawei 5 G was one of the offerings and surprisingly the roll out met unexpected resistance which hasn’t helped and hopefully can be solved.
It is still surprising that 90% of all global freight is moved on the high seas and not by roads. Interesting though to see that the use of trains during the pandemic has increased and in China alone 10,108 trains are rolling daily. $2 trillion doesn’t seem a lot when one considers the American debt level of $20 trillion of which China holds $3 trillion. Lending money is of course another way of reaching out and the borrower is always beholden to the lender. The Contributor was right it is ‘ brilliant marketing ‘
The Belt Road is now becoming the Digital Silk Road and once China opens up all these avenues then their reach will impact faster and with even more fervour. Golda Meir once told an American President that she admired their Generals not the military but General Motors and General Electric. America still has the greats Google, Amazon, Facebook , Tesla and many others but Alibaba and Tencent are leading the charge on the digital road. Yesterday AirBnB floated with a market cap of $86 billion , the model is you sleep in someone else’s bed in their home. A digital deal against Hilton and Marriott whose combined market cap is only $71 billion. So much for hard assets and soft beds.
The reality is that the world is changing and now the commerce is beyond Earth into outer space and the galaxies of growth. Very exciting and with endless opportunity. It’s belt and braces and one for all. Travel down it and see for yourself.
qbitblogger 