全名為絲綢之路經濟帶和21 世紀海上絲綢之路， 英文為The Belt and Road Initiative。由中國國家主席習近平於2013 年提出的區域經濟合作戰略，旨在強化中國和亞洲、歐洲，乃至於非洲的合作關係。目前已有超過141 個國家
和中國簽訂一帶一路合作文件，橫跨五大洲。就連G7 國家義大利也簽署了。
近幾年，西方國家譴責中國藉由一帶一路對開發中國家設下債務陷阱。一帶一路的開發案通常是機場、港口、跨國輸油管、鐵路等大型建設，不僅不符當地所需，更因為造價過高，使得簽署國背負龐大外債。且這些建設都交由中國企業和中國勞工進行，並未有效增加簽署國的就業機會。截至2021年已有多個國家表示須暫緩一帶一路開發案，例如孟加拉的雙軌鐵路、斯里蘭卡的漢班托塔港、緬甸的密松大壩，皆已陸續停工。
除了主打基礎建設的一帶一路，近年來，中國將概念延伸至北極圈和5G 建設，提出「極地絲路」和「數位絲路」戰略，皆是以中國企業佈局海外的思維進行。
The full name of the initiative is the “Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road” in Chinese and the “Belt and Road Initiative” in English. It is a regional economic cooperation strategy proposed by Chinese President Xi Jinping in 2013, aiming to strengthen the partner relations between China, Asia, Europe, and even Africa. More than 141 countries across five continents have already signed Belt and Road cooperation documents with China at the moment. Even Italy, a G7 country, signed up, too.
In recent years, Western countries have condemned China for setting up a debt trap for developing countries through the Belt and Road Initiative. The Belt and Road development projects usually involve large-scale infrastructure building such as airports, ports, transnational oil pipelines, and railways. They not only fail to meet local needs, but also burden those participating countries with hefty foreign debts because of the high cost of construction. Moreover, as these construction projects were all carried out by Chinese companies and Chinese laborers, they fail to effectively create employment opportunities in participating countries. As of 2021, many countries of the initiative have expressed the need to suspend the development of the Belt and Road projects. For example, the double-track railway in Bangladesh, the Hambantota International Port in Sri Lanka, and the Myitsone Dam in Myanmar have all been suspended.
In addition to the One Belt One Road initiative featuring infrastructure construction, China has extended the same concept to the Arctic Circle and 5G infrastructure in recent years, and proposed the “Polar Silk Road” and “Digital Silk Road” strategies, all motivated by the desire to help Chinese companies expand overseas.
