Since its launch in 2013, the China-led Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) has sparked a heated debate. Despite Beijing’s efforts to frame it as a win-win cooperation, concerns mounted on the risks brought about by the BRI for the countries involved, especially in the Global South. Beatrice Gallelli (IAI researcher) dialogues with Marina Rudyak (Heidelberg University), a leading expert in the fields of Chinese studies and International Development, in order to support dissemination of fact-based information on such a polarized debate.

The pandemic crisis and the geopolitical implications of the Russian invasion of Ukraine are acting as potential accelerators of ongoing transformations in the economic and political international order. Global value chains vulnerabilities revamped the debate on the future of globalisation and the potential efficacy of reshoaring or friendshoring processes.