In a series of speeches in his first year in power in 2013, Chinese President Xi Jinping conceptualised and fleshed out his vision for what would become known as the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) – a Chinese-sponsored global infrastructure programme aimed at fostering integration and connectivity in the Global South.
Speaking at Kazakhstan’s Nazabaryev University, Xi took his audience down the history lane, reminding them of the Ancient Silk Road – an overland route that connected the Eurasian continent and intensified cultural and economic
