The Belt and Road after COVID-19: actors and activities in globalizing China

From January to June 2020, China experienced the full cycle of Covid-19: outbreak, containment, economic reopening, and return of political life. The country’s policy discourse and activities during the cycle show that the BRI strategy maintains a high level of continuity after the pandemic. Specifically, motivations for the initiative today are similar to those at its launch in 2013, and interests developed during its implementation have grown following the Covid-19 outbreak, albeit with different emphases. Overall, Chinese “middle elites” will continue to help stabilize BRI and globalization during the Covid-19 pandemic and beyond.