ABSTRACT
The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) marked its tenth anniversary in late 2023, witnessing extensive research into China's global strategy and international influence. Scholars have grappled with key questions: has the BRI increased China's global power? Has it advanced Beijing's foreign policy objectives? To what extent does it benefit recipient countries? While answers to these questions have proliferated, they remained polarized—some emphasizing China's growing power, others highlighting external backlash. This chapter examines the BRI's multi-layered domestic intermediaries, whose diverse intentions have been shaped by evolving conditions within China. The chapter underscores the domestic politics of China's grand strategy by, first, introducing a dynamic analytical framework, second, tracing the BRI's evolution over the past decade, and finally, explaining China's new thinking on global power projection.
