China’s “Belt and Road” Initiative and Labor Migration in Eurasia

For my final blogs, I will be discussing China’s “Belt and Road” Initiative (BRI) and its impact on labor migration. In our class, we had a brief discussion on Chinese companies doing construction works overseas and bringing Chinese workers as a common business practice. However, such practice has fueled clashes and dismay among countries that receive Chinese investment. “China is Central Asia’s largest investor and a key power in the region with a growing business and security footprint that has at times inflamed tensions with local populations despite Beijing’s close ties to their governments.” [1]

Brief History of the “Belt and Road” Initiative

I first came to know about this initiative from Chinese state media as the New Silk Road Initiative, which is to revive the old Silk Road established in the Han Dynasty and to connect through maritime means. The Belt and Road Initiative was first brought up by Chinese President Xi Jinping in Kazakhstan in 2013. It was launched to build connectivity between Asia and Europe. In addition to building infrastructure in countries in Asia, Europe, and Africa, a major goal is to increase the use of the Chinese currency renminbi. [2] For many who grew up outside of China, it is perhaps difficult to grasp why the Chinese government is so keen on investing such an immense amount of money and the goals of the Chinese government through this Belt and Road Initiative can seem to be very suspicious.

As a Chinese citizen, I echo the concerns of geopolitical influence and economic gains that can be acquired by the Chinese government. However, I cannot echo the concerns of “exporting authoritarianism” [3] that some people have had. After all, in recent years, China already saw a decrease in labor migrants in its BRI African projects due to African governments being more vocal about the demand for more African workers. [4]

How Does BRI Impact Labor Migration? 

BRI projects are largely infrastructure investments overseas. Such investments inevitably require knowledge and expertise from the hosting countries. Because of such needs, Chinese government has had bilateral visa agreements with hosting countries. Recent research findings suggest that “new skilled migration legislation in China, geared towards foreigners with tertiary education, paired with BRI cooperation efforts and visa facilitation, is opening comparatively more opportunities for skilled nationals of BRI countries.” [5] Although it is still difficult for such highly skilled migrants to enter China and land a job, the BRI projects are providing opportunities for skilled labors to be part of the economic development efforts of the countries.  

Although right now it is still unclear how much existing migration policies in Central Asia can play a contributing role in providing job opportunities, it is worth looking into in the upcoming blogs. We have learned that people from former USSR countries go to Russia to look for work due to labor surplus in their home country. If there are infrastructures being built in different central Asian countries through BRI, what does this mean for labor migrants in the region? Do they still need to go to another country to find a job? Or can they simply stay home and work for a BRI project. I plan to investigate more into these questions for future blogs.  

A Side but Important Thought: The Role of Racism 

In 2018, Chinese New Year Festival Gala became trending on Twitter, not because of the celebration, but because of racism. [6] Born and raised in China, if you ask me whether or not Chinese people are in general racist, I would say yes, they definitely are. Looking at the 2018 Spring Festival Gala, China was trying to celebrate its success in bringing more economic development overseas, especially in Africa, through BRI. However, the way Africans were portrayed in the gala was absolutely disastrous, as Chinese people perhaps took little to no effort in learning about what constitutes racism. A friend once told me that he knew the reason behind Chinese construction companies bringing Chinese workers overseas – it’s because Africans are lazy and slow, and Chinese companies only wanted to finish the job and leave. I can only imagine the stress and pressure, along with the Chinese racist attitudes, can impose a lot of trouble for hosting countries of BRI projects.  

Although this is simply a side thought, it is still worth investigating more and to understand how lack of cultural competency among the Chinese can become problematic for BRI projects to succeed and sustain in the targeted regions.  

References:

[1] Standish, Reid. “From COVID-19 To China: Mapping The Changing Face Of Dissent In Central Asia.” RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty. Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty, October 1, 2020. https://www.rferl.org/a/from-covid-19-to-china-mapping-the-changing-face-of-dissent-in-central-asia/30868684.html.

[2] Chatzky, Andrew, and James McBride. “China’s Massive Belt and Road Initiative.” Council on Foreign Relations. Council on Foreign Relations, 2020. https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/chinas-massive-belt-and-road-initiative.

[3] Sienna, Gabrielle. “Exporting Authoritarianism.” Council on Foreign Relations. Council on Foreign Relations, 2020. https://www.cfr.org/podcasts/exporting-authoritarianism.

[4] Nyabiage, Jevans. “Belt and Road Initiative: Chinese Workers Leave Africa as Lending Slows.” South China Morning Post, October 17, 2020. https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3105695/belt-and-road-initiative-chinese-workers-leave-africa-lending.

[5] Richter, Eva L. “Economic Development through Migration: Facilitating Skilled Migration to China through the Belt and Road Initiative.” The Chinese Journal of Comparative Law, 2020. https://doi.org/10.1093/cjcl/cxaa021.

[6] Nyabiage, Jevans. “Belt and Road Initiative: Chinese Workers Leave Africa as Lending Slows.” South China Morning Post, October 17, 2020. https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3105695/belt-and-road-initiative-chinese-workers-leave-africa-lending.