Xi promotes Maritime Silk Road in Maldives

President Xi Jinping, currently on a four-nation Asian tour, has reiterated China's grand vision of a 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, planned to span from the South China Sea to East Africa.

The maritime route is expected to further promote China's economic and strategic interests.

Xi arrived in the Maldives Sunday, kicking off the South Asian segment of his four-nation tour, which will also bring him to Sri Lanka and India.

The Maldives was always an important stop along the ancient Maritime Silk Road, Xi said, reiterating that Beijing welcomes Malé's active participation in the maritime initiative.

The initiative, first raised by Xi during a visit to Indonesia last October, is named after the expeditionary voyages to Southeast Asia, South Asia, the Middle East and East Africa from 1405-33 by famed Chinese explorer Zheng He.

Together with the proposed land-based Silk Road Economic Belt, the initiative is regarded as China's vision to stretch its economic reach further westward against the backdrop of the US Asian pivot.

"Compared with the Silk Road Economic Belt, the Maritime Silk Road is of more significance," Mei Xinyu, a research fellow with the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation, said. "The route originates from our backyard, where we have relatively mature economic and trade ties with ASEAN members. The new concept will help upgrade trade ties."

The vision is high on the central government agenda. In addition to touting it during Xi's Asian tour, it is expected to be high on the agenda at the annual China-ASEAN Expo in Nanning, South China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, which opens Tuesday.

Li Mingjiang, a professor at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies at Singapore-based Nanyang Technological University, told the Global Times that the goal is to consolidate China's long-term strategic influence in the region.

"The short-term objective is to improve China's image in the region that has been damaged by the maritime disputes [in the South China Sea] in the past few years," he said.

Wang Xiaopeng, an expert on maritime and border studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said that the initiative could help China and other claimants build strategic trust and manage disputes through breakthroughs in the economic sphere.

"Politicians in those countries will have to get bilateral ties back on track, because they can't afford the consequences of missing out on opportunities provided by China's growth," Wang added.

Sri Lanka's President Mahinda Rajapaksa recently told the Xinhua News Agency that his country will join China's efforts in the Maritime Silk Road, while Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong last week also welcome the proposal in an interview with the Guangzhou-based Nanfang Daily.

While no blueprint for the route has been issued, it is expected to include measures such as upgrading port facilities along the route.

China is already involved in major maritime projects in South Asia. Xi has pledged support for Chinese investors in the Maldives, and is considering investment in a bridge to link Malé and its international airport.

In Sri Lanka, Xi will attend a ceremony for a development helmed by State-owned China Harbour Engineering Company (CHEC) to reclaim land for a new business district in capital Colombo. He is also to witness the signing of a memorandum of understanding between Sri Lankan port authorities and CHEC on the joint operation of Hambantota Port, a staff member with CHEC, who asked to remain anonymous, told the Global Times. CHEC is likely to be at the forefront of further developments of the maritime silk route, he said.

Hambantota, near major international shipping lanes, together with other ports built by Chinese companies in Pakistan and Bangladesh, is regarded by Western analysts as part of Beijing's so-called String of Pearls strategy to encircle New Delhi.

The Maritime Silk Road is basically a friendly Chinese formulation of the String of Pearls strategy, asserted Geoffrey Wade, a professor at the Australian National University College of Asia and the Pacific, in an interview with online news portal World Politics Review.

China has never acknowledged the existence of the String of Pearls strategy.

"It is a wedge driven by Western analysts between New Delhi and Beijing," said Wang.

China is eyeing further cooperation for the maritime route, and Xi is expected to raise the prospect to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi when he arrives in New Delhi. He also mentioned the proposal to officials from the Gulf Cooperation Council while they were on a visit to Beijing in January.

Li said concerns by some ASEAN countries due to territorial disputes will make it difficult for ASEAN to openly support the proposal. "It's better to start cooperation with countries that are more willing to take part in the initiative and on a bilateral basis," he said.

The expert also suggested China be prepared to provide resources and public goods for participating countries, and focus more on the less controversial non-maritime areas at the starting period.

China is mulling establishing a bank to fund related projects. Some ASEAN countries will reportedly contribute to the bank, which is expected to have a registered capital of 5 billion yuan ($820 million), reported the China Securities Journal.