The Construction of an Alternative Globalization: The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) as an Alternative to Western Imperialism

Abstract

Studies on China have increasingly gained ground in Brazilian public debate. The Chinese economy, in contrast to the Western world, has grown at higher levels since the 1980s, showing significant productivity gains and developing its productive forces. Thus, technical development and capital accumulation pose challenges to China as significant as its recent achievements. In this context of overaccumulation, the expansion of Chinese capital into other countries has been a strategy to overcome obstacles to its development, as exemplified by the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). This work aims to understand the material basis of this initiative and seeks to problematize it as a form of globalization with an anti-colonial character, in opposition to that promoted by the West. As a theoretical research, the text is supported by bibliographic references on the subject. The justification lies in the central role China plays in the global economy and in its trade relations with Brazil, highlighting the importance of understanding this economic and social formation. Preliminary findings indicate that the BRI has promoted a form of globalization based on principles different from those practiced by the West and that it presents itself as an alternative for countries of the Global South.