1. Introduction

In September 2013, China proposed the “Silk Road Economic Belt” and the “21st Century Maritime Silk Road.” The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) innovatively continues with the achievements of the ancient Silk Road and endows it with new humanistic connotations and the spirit of the times, providing a practical platform for building a community with a shared future for mankind. Over the past decade, the BRI has not only brought rich benefits to many countries, but also made positive contributions to promoting the healthy development of economic globalization, solving global development problems, and improving the global governance system. It has opened up a new path for mankind to achieve modernization together.

By December 2021, 64 countries had participated in the Belt and Road Initiative. In 2023, Chinese enterprises’ direct investment in BRI partner countries reached 40.7 billion dollars, an increase of 31.5% over the previous year. By the end of 2023, Chinese enterprises had established 17,000 overseas enterprises in partner countries, with a direct investment of over 330 billion dollars. The BRI has achieved historic achievements over the past ten years, realizing common economic development and win-win cooperation among partner countries, and promoting political mutual trust and consensus among surrounding countries.

Academically, there are mainly three categories of studies about the impact of the BRI on the economies of surrounding countries for a long time. The first category is the impact on the debt levels of surrounding countries. For example, it is found that the BRI has not caused an increase in the debt ratios of the host country’s government, enterprises, and private sectors [1]. A variety of tests and analyses have been carried out respectively, and the conclusion has been drawn that the BRI has different impacts on different countries [2, 3]. The second category of literature focuses on the spillover effect of the BRI on enterprises’ foreign investment. For example, from the perspective of overseas investment spillover, mechanism tests have found that the BRI can promote enterprises’ investment in developed country markets [4, 5]. It has been concluded that the BRI can significantly promote the expansion of the asset scale of listed companies in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations [6]. The third category focuses on the connection between the BRI and the green development of China and surrounding countries. For example, evaluating on its impact on carbon emissions in domestic transportation hub cities, it is concluded that the initiative has reduced the per capita emissions of hub cities. It is also found that the BRI has significantly reduced the implicit carbon emission in the import and export trade of partner countries [7, 8].

Infrastructure investment is the specific achievement of the initiative, and the issues such as the impact and role of the BRI on infrastructure investment in surrounding countries need to be deepened. Gwadar Port is a very important port in Pakistan and has attracted the investment and construction of foreign companies many times in history, but all have ended in failure. This port has a great geographical location, and in recent years, due to China’s aid to construction, its throughput has increased year by year, and port facilities have developed rapidly. Based on this, this paper takes Gwadar Port in Pakistan as an example to explore the actual impact of the initiative on infrastructure investment in surrounding countries, which is of strong significance for analyzing the specific role of the BRI.

2. Overview of Belt and Road infrastructure construction

The main goal of the BRI is to build an interest community with political mutual trust, cultural tolerance, and economic integration. To achieve cooperation in energy and trade, China must make some efforts in infrastructure construction to comprehensively improve the level of infrastructure connectivity among partner countries. Infrastructure construction first vigorously promotes the construction of land passages; second, it deepens maritime connectivity with partner countries; third, it promotes the high-quality development of the “Air Silk Road;” and fourth, it promotes the safe and efficient interconnection of information infrastructure. Only promoting China’s infrastructure construction standards to global standards can drive the trade connectivity of surrounding countries. Therefore, infrastructure construction is the first step in the development of the BRI.

There are mainly three types of infrastructure investment methods in the BRI, namely transportation infrastructure, energy infrastructure, and communication infrastructure. The overseas infrastructure built in the BRI mainly includes railways, highways, ports, and airports. Well-known cases include the China-Laos Railway, the Port of Piraeus in Greece, and the China-Russia Heihe Bridge. For example, the China-Laos Railway connects China and Laos, and is an important part of the Pan-Asian Railway. Among these three types of infrastructure, the BRI has the highest proportion of overseas transportation infrastructure investment. However, China has also encountered some difficulties in building transportation infrastructure, such as the difference in national standards. In terms of highways, China has clear regulations on the performance indicators of materials, such as cement and asphalt for highway construction, while the relevant standards in some African countries are relatively loose. This leads to the need to select materials and control construction quality according to local standards during project implementation, increasing the difficulty of project implementation. This problem can be solved by setting up economic incentives. Belt and Road partner countries can set up a special fund for the unification of transportation infrastructure standards and issue low-interest loans or subsidies to construction projects that adopt unified standards to increase the feasibility of projects.

Energy infrastructure is the cornerstone of China’s green infrastructure cooperation. The number of member countries of the Belt and Road Energy Partnership has reached 33. Energy infrastructure construction mainly includes wind power, hydropower, and photovoltaic. However, energy infrastructure is greatly affected by geopolitics. Some countries along the route have complex geopolitics, regional conflicts, and tense international relations, which may lead to energy infrastructure being interfered by political factors, such as projects being suspended or expropriated. Therefore, a complete security system should be built to protect the normal operation of energy infrastructure from being affected.

Communication infrastructure is an important part and a leading action of the Belt and Road facility connectivity, and it plays a role in improving trade efficiency. However, due to the diverse natural environments of countries along the Belt and Road, the topography and geomorphology of some projects are complex, making the construction of communication infrastructure difficult and increasing construction costs. However, the scientific research institutions of partner countries may have a deeper understanding of local environmental issues, topography, and geomorphology. Therefore, it is recommended to strengthen international cooperation and exchanges, for example, by cooperating with scientific research institutions in countries along the route to jointly overcome technical problems.

In recent years, the ideas of de-globalization and trade protectionism have emerged globally. Especially in the past two years, the production re-shoring of developed countries has accelerated the restructuring of the global industrial chain. Since 2022, the connection between Asia and the global supply chain has been reduced to a certain extent, and the dependence of international trade on Asia has dropped from 0.47 in 2021 to 0.43 in 2023.

Finally, infrastructure construction projects in multilateral cooperation projects have attracted the attention of many countries. Developed countries such as the United States and the European Union have put forward many initiatives similar to the BRI. In 2021, the United States proposed the initiative of “Build Back Better Word,” which is regarded as a product to counter the BRI. The signing of these multilateral cooperation agreements similar to the BRI has all had adverse effects on the advancement of the BRI.

3. Case analysis of Gwadar Port

Gwadar Port is located on the southwestern coast of Balochistan Province, Pakistan. It is a natural deep-water ice-free port, located at the intersection of the Middle East and South Asia, close to several important marine routes from Africa and Europe to East Asia and the Pacific region via the Red Sea, the Strait of Hormuz, and the Persian Gulf. The United States had the idea of developing Gwadar Port as early as the last century. In 1998, the then Pakistani government, without holding international tenders and in a hurry, signed a memorandum of understanding on joint investment and development of Gwadar Port with the US Forbes Company in Karachi, avoiding the attention of the international community. The planned Gwadar Port was no different to US military bases in other places, but it finally failed due to the leakage of the plan. After President Musharraf came to power in 1999, he requested aid to assist in the construction of Gwadar Port, and China made the decision to assist in 2001. In 2013, China Overseas Port Holding Company obtained the operation rights of Gwadar Port and the free trade zone [9].

Gwadar Port was officially opened in 2016. Supporting infrastructure such as airports and highways has been continuously improved. The Gwadar region was once a barren, resource-poor, and sparsely populated area. Before the construction of Gwadar Port, it was a small fishing village with outdated infrastructure, and most residents made a living by fishing. In order to improve the local development situation, after China Overseas Port Holding Company began to operate Gwadar Port, it carried out all-round modernization upgrades of the port according to Chinese standards, from adding loading and unloading equipment to upgrading power facilities, improving the water supply system, and expanding supporting projects. Gwadar Port has become a multi-purpose terminal with 3 multi-purpose berths, which can dock two 50,000-ton cargo ships at the same time, and can handle various businesses such as bulk cargo, containers, roll-on/roll-off cargo, and liquefied petroleum gas.

It is expected that by 2055, Gwadar Port will become the largest port in Pakistan. At present, Gwadar Port has 3 multi-purpose berths (200 meters long each) and 1 roll-on facility; the port has 2 tugboats (2400 horsepower), 1 survey ship, and 1 workboat, and it has the ability to handle 50,000 Deadweight Tonnage bulk carriers under a maximum water depth of 12.5 meters [10].

This port has also brought about significant economic benefits. For example, infrastructure has been improved. The Gwadar Vocational and Technical School has been completed and put into use, and the seawater desalination plant has been completed and is in operation. In line with the plan to introduce seafood processing enterprises into the free trade zone by China Overseas Port Holding Company, fishing vessels are being built for local fishermen to enhance their fishing capacity. With the development of port construction and related industries, local commercial activities have become increasingly vibrant, which has also increased residents’ incomes. In terms of employment, the construction of the Gwadar Port requires a large number of enterprises and workers, providing direct employment opportunities for local residents. For China, the aid construction of this port also brings China’s construction standards overseas, and makes the construction of other BRI infrastructure more efficient.

The development of Gwadar Port also faces huge challenges. During the construction of Gwadar Port, the problem of difference in construction standards often occurs, too. Typically, in international standard, Gwadar Port is a deep port, but in Chinese standard, it is not. The Chinese construction program connected several times with the research institutes in Pakistan. In order to prevent this situation, China needs to make Chinese standards become globally.

In addition, the security issues in Pakistan have seriously hindered the development of Gwadar Port. For example, on August 13, 2023, Gwadar Port was attacked by terrorists. This incident reflects the security issues in Pakistan, and the possibility of another attack cannot be ruled out in the future, which may also affect the future development of the port. The situation in southwestern Pakistan is unstable, and terrorism attacks often occur. Although the Pakistani government has taken strict security measures, this potential security risk still exists, bringing challenges to the daily operation of the port. The internal situation of Pakistan cannot be ignored. Only in a stable environment can the long-term development of Gwadar Port be ensured. Moreover, the complexity of geopolitics also brings uncertainty to the development of Gwadar Port. Surrounding countries have different attitudes towards Gwadar Port. Some countries regard it as an opportunity for cooperation, while others see it as a potential threat. This complex international environment brings challenges to the development of Gwadar Port. Therefore, security measures around Gwadar Port should be strengthened to ensure that it is no longer influenced by potential threats. At the same time, diplomatic ties with surrounding countries should be strengthened to eliminate their hostility towards China’s overseas investment and cooperation, so as to ensure the long-term development of China’s overseas infrastructure investment.

4. Conclusion

Under the development of globalization in recent years, China’s BRI over the past decade has taken “building a community with a shared future for mankind” as the main goal, adhered to the development concepts of openness, integrity, and greenness, and strived to achieve higher development levels and higher investment returns. This paper finds that infrastructure construction is the most important part of the BRI. Through the Belt and Road cooperation, China has also achieved a large amount of capital and investment.

This paper explores the rich achievements brought by the BRI to China and other partner countries over the past decade, and analyzes the achievements of the BRI and the challenges encountered in infrastructure investment and construction through a case analysis of Gwadar Port. Relying on its unique geographical advantages, Gwadar Port was put into navigation in 2016 after more than a decade of construction and many supporting facilities, with huge commercial value in the future. Based on the above research findings, the following policy recommendations are put forward. China needs to strengthen multilateral cooperation with the countries along the BRI in the future. It is concluded that in overseas infrastructure construction, China should strengthen the protection of infrastructure and ties with surrounding countries to eliminate the hostility of surrounding countries, so as to ensure the long-term benefits of infrastructure.

This paper also has some shortcomings. For example, over the past decade of the BRI, information can be collected for quantitative analysis, such as issues of people’s livelihood interconnection and foreign trade changes. Therefore, future research directions can take into account the above factors for quantitative analysis.