Foreword

Since the launch of the Belt and Road Initiative in 2013 by President Xi Jinping, China has been building a community of shared interests, shared future and shared responsibility featuring political mutual trust, economic fusion and cultural inclusiveness by virtue of the existing bi- and multi-lateral mechanisms on effective regional cooperation platforms with the Belt and Road countries. The Initiative is now gradually shifting to afterburning stage from preliminary exploration stage after nearly 5 years of development.

With the continuous development of the Initiative, the development of the Belt and Road countries has gradually attracted the attention of the international community.  This report, prepared by Roland Berger on the basis of authoritative global databases and in light of the experience gained from projects in the Belt and Road countries, aims to provide an advanced guidebook to Chinese enterprises that want to invest in these countries.

The 35 key Belt and Road countries covered in this report account for 13.5% of the world's GDP and 35.4% of the world's population. After a comprehensive assessment of these 35 countries in terms of their development foundation, growth potential, capital needs, investment risks, etc., they are divided into 4 categories featuring different overseas investment strategy recommendations, i.e., Making Breakthroughs, Watching for Opportunities, Cultivating Market over Time, and Prudent Observation. Ten of them are identified as countries with highest investment attractiveness, including Vietnam, U.A.E, Poland, Indonesia, Thailand, Russia, and the Philippines.

We have tried our best to make this report as objective, impartial, and logically compelling as possible for the reference of Chinese enterprises that want to exploit overseas markets and invest in the Belt and Road countries.