Reshaping the Global Economic Architecture: China's Economic Development and the Strategic Role of Xi Jinping’s Belt and Road Initiative

This thesis explores the shifting economic geographies of the evolving international order. In particular, it provides an analysis of how China’s economic development on one hand, together with its foreign policy strategy on the other, pose a growing challenge to the Liberal International Order’s hegemony. The thesis’ objective is to contextualize and gain a deeper understanding of one of the most ambitious projects launched by President Xi Jinping: the Belt and Road Initiative. To do so, the analysis opens with a review of the recent history of international economic relations between states, followed by a detailed investigation of the development of China’s relations with the rest of the world. Subsequently, the study focuses on the present, discussing China’s economic rise. It examines Xi Jinping’s vision for the present and the future of the country, and highlights the strategic shift in China’s growth model as compared to the preceding decades. Lastly, after providing an overview of some of Xi Jinping’s pivotal domestic and international projects, the thesis concludes with an in-depth analysis of the BRI, covering what the initiative entails and its underlying strategic objectives. In conclusion, the thesis traces some possible scenarios for China’s future development and relations with the rest of the world.