In other words, China decided to create a unique platform to uberize trade and trade financing from the South East Asian economies all the way to Europe; hence supporting other countries’ international trade and avoiding a global mudfight.

It includes 80+ countries mainly from Asia, Europe and Africa and spans an area accounting for nearly 36% of global GDP, 68% of world population, and 41% of global trade. The BRI is the equivalent of 10 Marshall Plans and is an essential piece of China’s future growth opportunities and release of debt overhang. 

Euler Hermes expects merchandise trade flows between China and BRI partners to grow by +117bn in 2019 (after an estimated +USD158bn in 2018). Overall, this would boost global trade by +0.3pp and add +0.1pp to global GDP in 2019.