Hostname: page-component-5cf477f64f-mgq6s Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-04-08T09:04:41.571Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Belt and Road Initiative: Opportunities and Challenges for Mongolia

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 March 2025

Yelif Ulagpan
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

In 2013, Chinese President Xi Jinping put forward the One Belt and One Road Initiative, commonly known as the Belt and Road Initiative. The initiative proposed ‘peaceful development’ and ‘economic cooperation’ connecting Asia, Europe and Africa. Within this framework, the establishment of the ‘China-Mongolia-Russia Economic Corridor (CMREC)‘ is envisaged as a promising step toward regional connectivity and economic development in Eurasia through the territory of Mongolia. This article analyzes the BRI projects to identify opportunities and challenges to creating the Corridor in Mongolia. The data draw on both primary and secondary sources.

Keywords

Belt and Road Initiative (BRI)CMRECMongoliaEurasia
Type
Research Article
Information
Asia-Pacific Journal , Volume 19 , Issue 3 , February 2021 , e3
Copyright
Copyright © The Authors 2021

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

ADB. (2014). Central Asia regional economic cooperation corridor performance and measurement and monitoring: A forward-looking retrospective. Manila: Asian Development Bank.Google Scholar
Batbayar, Ts. (1998) Open Mongolia and Mongol-Russian Relations, The Mongolian Journal of International Relations Affairs.Google Scholar
Батбаатар, С. (2015) ‘Талын зам’, Гэрэг сэтгүүл. [Translation: Batbaatar, S. Gereg Magazine, 2015].Google Scholar
Bayarsaikhan, Dulguun. (2020) ‘Over 30 projects lined up for trilateral economic corridor,‘ UB Post, 2016. [Online] Available from: [accessed on 7th October, 2020].Google Scholar
Bijian, Zheng. (2017) China's “One Belt, One Road” Plan Marks the Next Phase of Globalization, New Perspectives Quarterly, [Online] 34 (3), 27–30. [accessed 14th December 2020].CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brunner, Hans-Peter. (2013) What is Economic Corridor Development and What Can It Achieve in Asia's Subregions, ADB Working Paper Series on Regional Economic Integration, Asian Development Bank.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bulag, Uradyn E. (2014) To connect or Not to Connect: Towards Mongolia's Geopolitical Infrastructure, University of Cambridge.Google Scholar
Cai, Peter. (2017) Understanding China's Belt and Road Initiative, Lowy Institute. [Online] Available from: Understanding China's Belt and Road Initiative [accessed on 4th January 2021].Google Scholar
China Global Television Network China. (2019) Mongolia sign deal on alignment of BRI, Development Road program, CGTN, 2019, [Online] [accessed on 6th November, 2020].Google Scholar
Dierkes, Julian. (2021) Email to Yelif Ulagpan, 6th January.Google Scholar
Gabuev, Alexander. (2016) Friends with benefits? Russian-Chinese Relations After the Ukraine Crisis, Carnegie Moscow Center and the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.[Online] [accessed on 12th October, 2020].Google Scholar
Гөлгөө, Ж., Индра, Б. (2017) “Монгол, Орос, Хятад гурван улсын эдийн засгийн коридор байгуулах ОХУ, БНХАУ-ын сонирхол,” Олон Улс Судлал, 1, 107. (In Mongolian) {Translation: Golgoo, J., Indra, B., “Russia and China's interests in establishing a Mongolia-Russia-China economic corridor,” International Studies, 1, (107)}.Google Scholar
Goodson, Jeff., Addleton, Jonathan. (2020) How Great Power Competition is Changing the Geopolitics of Mongolia, Stratfor. [Online] [accessed on 12th December, 2020].Google Scholar
Green, Elizabeth E. (1986) China and Mongolia: Recurring Trends and Prospects for Change, Asian Survey, 26 (12), 1337–1363.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hurley, John., Morris, Scott., and Portelance, Gailyn. (2018) Examining the Debt Implications of the Belt and Road Initiative from a Policy Perspective, Center for Global Development Policy Paper, 2018, Washington, DC: Center for Global Development [Online] [accessed on 23rd September, 2020].Google Scholar
Jargalsaikhan, Mendee. (2020), Mongolia's diplomacy amidst the pandemic and geopolitical rivalries, Friedrich Ebert Stiftung. [Online] [accessed on 3rd December, 2020].Google Scholar
Johnson, Christopher K. (2016) President Xi Jinping's Belt and Road Initiative: A Practical Assessment of the Chinese Communist Party's Roadmap for China's Global Resurgence, Center for Strategic and International Studies.Google Scholar
Judge, Connor. (2018) What does the China-Mongolia-Russia Economic Corridor mean for Mongolia? Belt and Road Advisory. [Online] [accessed on 9th December, 2020].Google Scholar
Losos, Elizabeth et al. (2019) Is a Green Belt and Road feasible? How to mitigate the environmental risk of BRI Infrastructure Project, the World Bank, 2019.[Online] [accessed on 2nd January, 2020].Google Scholar
Losos, Elizabeth et al. (2019) Reducing Environmental Risks from Belt and Road Initiative Investments in Transportation Infrastructure, Policy Research Working Paper, World Bank Group.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Luft, Gal. (2016), It Takes a Road, “China's One Belt and One Road Initiative: An American Response to the New Silk Road, Institute for the Analysis of Global Security.Google Scholar
Luft, Gal. (2017) Silk Road 2.0: US Strategy toward China's Belt and Road Initiative, Atlantic Council Strategy Paper No. 11, the Atlantic Council: Washington, 2017.Google Scholar
Mackay, Anson. (2020) Lake Baikal: incredible ecosystem threatened by Mongolian dam and pipeline, The Conversation. [Online] [accessed on 23rd October, 2020].Google Scholar
Marrian, Brian. (2001) Towards a general theory of corridor development in South Africa, Paper presented at the 20th South African Transport Corridor, South Africa.[Online] Available from: Towards a General Theory of Corridor Development in South Africa [accessed on 4th December 2020].Google Scholar
Narain, Divya. (2020) Banks need to take Belt and Road environmental risks seriously, China Dialogue, 2020. [Online] [accessed on 16th November, 2020].Google Scholar
Office of the Leading Group for the Belt and Road Initiative. (2017) Building the Belt and Road: Concept, Practice and China's Contribution, Office of the Leading Group for the Belt and Road Initiative. Foreign Languages Press: Beijing, China.Google Scholar
О, Борисов Г., Б.-Д, Дондоков З., О, Намжилова В. (2017) “Экономический коридор Китай – Монголия – Россия: режим ожидания”, ЭКО, №5. {Translation: O, Borisov, G., B, Dondokov Z.-D., O, Namjilova, V. Economic Corridor China-Mongolia-Russia: Expectations, All-Russian economic journal ‘YEKO‘, №5}.Google Scholar
Otgonsuren, B. (2015) Mongolia-China-Russia Economic Corridor Infrastructure Cooperation, Center for China and East Asian Studies, Institute for Strategic Studies of Mongolia, 127.Google Scholar
People's Daily. (2016) Guidelines for China-Mongolia-Russia economic corridor unveiled, People's Daily. [Online] [accessed on 12th November, 2020].Google Scholar
People's Daily. (2020) Guidelines for China-Mongolia-Russia economic corridor unveiled, People's Daily. [Online] [accessed on 7th November, 2020].Google Scholar
Petrella, Stephanie. (2018) What is an Economic Corridor, Reconnecting Asia. [Online] [accessed on 19th December 2020].Google Scholar
Safitri, Hilmayati. (2012) Economic Corridor Policy, Land Concentration and ‘Social Exclusion’ Java's Economic Corridor Policy Implementation, Indonesia. Agricultural and Rural Development (ARD). [Online] [accessed 16th October, 2020].Google Scholar
Шадавдолгор, B. (2016) Ази-Европын их газрыг холбох Монголын “Талын зам”, Солонго мэдээллийн төв, [Online] [accessed on 12th October, 2020.] {Translation: Shadavdolgor, B. (2016) Mongolia's ‘Steppe Road’ connecting Asia-Europe, Solongo Information Center}.Google Scholar
Shen, Simon. (2016) How China's ‘Belt and Road’ Compares to the Marshall Plan, The Diplomat. [Online] [accessed on 1st November, 2020].Google Scholar
Sönnichsen, N. (2020) Global Primary Energy-Statistics & Facts, the Statista. [Online] [accessed on 2nd January, 2020].Google Scholar
The United Nations. (2019) United Nations Poised to Support Alignment of China's Belt and Road Initiative with Sustainable Development Goals, the United Nations. [Online] [accessed on 15th December, 2020].Google Scholar
Tristan, Kenderdine. (2017) “Mongolia gets on board with China's Belt and Road Initiative,” Eurasianet. [Online] [accessed on 7th August, 2020].Google Scholar
Wolf, Siegfried O. (2020) The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor of the Belt and Road Initiative: Concept, Context and Assessment, Contemporary South Asian Studies, [Online] Springer Nature Switzerland AG. Available from: [Accessed 12th November 2020].Google Scholar
World Bank. (2019) World Bank ‘Belt and Road Economics: Opportunities and Risks of Transport Corridors’, World Bank, Washington, DC: World Bank.Google Scholar
World Wildlife Fund. (2017) WWF and Greening the Belt and Road Initiative, WWF. [Online] [accessed on 19th November, 2020].Google Scholar
Ю, Авдаков И. (2018) «Экономический пояс шелкового пути» и транспортно-промышленный коридор Россия– Китай – Монгол, Российская Академия наук Институт востоковедения, {Translation: Yu, Avdakov I. “Economic Belt of the Silk Road” and Russia-China-Mongolia transportation and industrial corridor, The Russian Academy of Sciences, Institute of Oriental Studies, 2018}.Google Scholar