Launched in late 2013, Chinese President Xi Jinping’s proposed One Belt and One Road (OBAOR) is China's first comprehensive overseas investment and development initiative. In this podcast, Paul Haenle and Carnegie–Tsinghua’s Wang Tao discussed the program’s strategic objectives, its energy security component, and how complex political and cultural challenges in Central Asia and the Middle East complicate plans for further investment.

Wang Tao explained that OBAOR aims to strengthen connectivity and economic cooperation with nearby countries, enhance regional Chinese influence, and assure neighboring states that China’s rise will benefit them. He emphasized that energy security is vital to the initiative, because its routes incorporate vital Chinese oil and gas exporters. Wang also conceded that political complexities in the Middle East have limited Chinese investment there.

Wang Tao

Wang Tao is a resident scholar in the Energy and Climate Program based at the Carnegie–Tsinghua Center for Global Policy. His research focuses on China’s climate and energy policy, with particular attention to unconventional oil and natural gas, transportation, electric vehicles, and international climate negotiations.

Paul Haenle

Paul Haenle is the director of the Carnegie–Tsinghua Center for Global Policy. Prior to joining Carnegie, he served from June 2007 to June 2009 as the director for China, Taiwan, and Mongolian Affairs on the National Security Council staffs of former president George W. Bush and President Barack Obama.