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This is a joint event between the Washington State China Relations Council and the US Heartland China Association.

Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), inaugurated in 2013, has become a signature foreign policy framework of the Xi Jinping era. China has pledged $1 trillion dollars for infrastructure projects in the Asia-Pacific, and BRI projects touch over 60 percent of the world’s population based on the countries where the investment occurs. However, the BRI has also become the subject of skepticism as to its goals and impact on overseas development. This skepticism and suspicion has intensified during a period of heightened distrust and tension between the U.S. and China. Dr. Cohen will unpack what the BRI is, including its mission, its history, and some of the common perceptions and misunderstandings about the program, and key issues and developments policymakers and businesses should be tracking.