FROM SILK TO SUSTAINABILITY: BRI AND THE DEVELOPMENT PERFORMANCE OF CHINESE COMPANIES

Abstract

The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), launched by the People’s Republic of China in 2013, represents a global infrastructure and investment strategy that has mobilised Chinese companies into more than one hundred countries. This article investigates how Chinese firms engaged in BRI projects perform from a development perspective—encompassing economic, governance/institutional, and sustainability dimensions—and how they are responding to the shift from heavy‐infrastructure “Silk Road”-style engagement toward a “sustainability +” agenda. Using a secondary research methodology, the study draws on academic literature, policy reports, and institutional data to address two core research questions. The theoretical framework synthesises developmental state theory, global value‐chain theory, and sustainable development/CSR theory to interpret firm behaviour across the BRI context. The findings reveal that while Chinese companies have achieved significant global expansion and contract flows under the BRI, the depth of local value-creation, governance accountability, and embedded sustainability remains uneven. The evolution toward green energy, high-tech manufacturing, and localization of production is evident. Yet challenges persist in terms of transparency, host‐country institutional engagement, and full alignment with environmental, social, and governance (ESG) standards. The paper concludes with policy recommendations for corporate strategy, host-country regulation, and international development stakeholders and identifies avenues for further research