An Assessment of Gaps of Legal Mechanisms of B&R Implementation in Africa: Ethiopia's Perspective

• Author: Yongmei Chen & Haile Andargie
• Position: Professor of School of International Law at Southwest University of Political Science and Law, China/Ph.D., Assistant Professor of School of Law at Debre Markos University, Ethiopia
• Pages: 8-28

An Assessment on Gaps of Legal Mechanisms of B&R

Implementation in Africa: Ethiopia’s Perspective

Yongmei Chen & Haile Andargie1

Abstract: While there have been discussions focusing on B&R for African

countries, little has said about the legal aspects governing B&R among African

countries. Against this backdrop, this article examines the legal frameworks governing

the B&R in Africa, taking Ethiopia as a case in point. It analyses the available legal

mechanism between China and Africa to ensure the rights and obligations of parties

involved in B&R and the limitation on the existing legal issues. This article argues

that despite B&R being mutually beneficial, B&R goals necessitate a legal framework

governing B&R. There are hardly any specific laws that govern B&R among African

countries; the existing multilateral frameworks are nonbinding and are not

B&R-specific; some of the African countries including Ethiopia are not yet a member

of relevant multilateral forums. These all impede the application of WTO and ICSID

in the context of B&R. Therefore, in the short run, there is a need to negotiate or

update the existing treaties between African countries and China. In the long term,

China and Africa must work towards a legal framework applicable to all the parties

eventually.

Keywords: Legal Cooperation; B&R; China; Ethiopia; African

1. Introduction

Silk Road was a network of trade routes formally established during the Han

Dynasty. The road originated in Chang’an City (now Xi’an City) in the East and

ended in the West’s Mediterranean, linking China with the Roman Empire. As China’s

silk was the primary trade product, German geographer Ferdinand von Richthofen

coined the Silk Road in 1877.2It was not just one road but rather a series of major

trade routes that helped build trade and cultural ties between China, India, Persia,

Arabia, Greece, Rome and Mediterranean countries. It reached its height during the

Tang Dynasty but declined in the Yuan Dynasty, which was established by the Mongol

Empire, as political powers along the route became more fragmented. The Silk Road

ceased to be a shipping route in the Ottoman Empire’s rise, whose rulers opposed the

West.3

China’s President Jinping Xi introduced the Silk Road Economic Belt and the

21st-Century Maritime Silk Road (hereinafter referred to as B&R) as the centerpiece

of foreign and economic policy in 2013.4In its current shape, B&R has more than

1The first author: Yongmei Chen, Ph.D., Professor of School of International Law at Southwest

University of Political Science and Law, China; the second author: Haile Andargie, Ph.D., Assistant

Professor of School of Law at Debre Markos University, Ethiopia. This article is sup ported by a major

project of National Social Science Fund of China name d “Research on the Modernization of the

System and Capac ity for Gover nance of Nuclear Security in China under the Concept ‘A Human

Community of a Shared Future’” (NO.20&ZD162 ).

2See Joshua J. Mark, Silk Road-Ancient History of E ncyclopedia, http://www.ancient.eu/Silk_Road/

(accessed on October 9, 2021).

3See David Wijeratne & Andrew Li et a l., China’s New Silk Route: The Long and Winding Road,

https://www.pwc.com/gx/en/growth-markets-center/assets/ pdf/china-new-silk-route.pdf (accessed on

October 9, 2021).

4See Raphael & Changfen Zhao, Africa in China’s One Belt, One Road Initiativ e: A Critical Analysis,

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half of the world’s population, around 30% of the global economy, and a total

infrastructure investment need of approximately USD 5 trillion.5The platforms are

comprised of two interdependent and interrelated concepts or fields. One is the

land-based economic belt that connects China with Central Asia, the Middle East,

Europe and Russia. The belt is a planned network of overland road and rail routes, oil

and natural gas pipelines, and other infrastructure projects that will stretch from Xi’an

City in Central China, through Central Asia, and ultimately reach Moscow, Rotterdam

and Venice. The other is the maritime silk road, which connects China’s coastal cities

through the South China Sea to ports on the Indian Ocean, the African coast, the Red

Sea and the Mediterranean Sea.6

China has identified five areas of cooperation among B&R participating

countries to operate the project. The priority is policy coordination. Enhancing policy

coordination is an important guarantee for implementing B&R which includes

building a multi-level intergovernmental macro policy exchange and communication

mechanism, expanding shared interests, enhancing mutual political trust, and reaching

a new cooperation consensus.7

The second priority is infrastructure connectivity, which is the fundamental

objective of B&R. B&R aims to connect countries through infrastructural building

and the development of common technical standards. Therefore, B&R intends to

“jointly push forward the construction of international trunk passageways and form an

infrastructure network connecting all sub-regions in Asia, and between Asia, Europe

and Africa step by step”, with due consideration of “the impact of climate change on

the construction”. The infrastructure connectivity focuses on three areas. The first area

is transport infrastructure construction. The connectivity of energy infrastructure

becomes the second, and the construction of cross-border optical cables and other

communications trunk line networks is the third.8

The third priority is trade facilitation to remove investment and trade barriers and

create a sound business environment for all B&R countries. Trade and investment

cooperation within the region and with related countries is set out as a major mission

of B&R construction. The primary goal of this cooperation is to create a sound

business environment by improving trade and investment facilitation and removing

trade and investment barriers.9

As for the fourth priority, China has identified financial integration to promote

economic cooperation and regulatory harmonization in currency stability, bonds,

newly developed banks, bank lending, and payment systems. Financial stability and

adequate financial supply along B&R and beyond the region are deemed vital for the

success of B&R. Efforts will be made toward building three systems in Asia, namely,

a currency stability system, an investment and financing system, and a credit

information system.10

Finally, yet importantly, the people-to-people bond promotes exchanges among

the B&R countries in culture, education, media, tourism, epidemic prevention. The

21(1) Journal of Humanities and Social Scien ce 10, 10-21 (2016).

5See Jianing Cao, Transcript of “B&R”, https://www.yidaiyilu.gov.cn/jcsj/dsjkydyl/79860.htm

(accessed on October 26, 2021).

6See supra note 3.

7See Ministry of Foreign Af fairs of the People’s Rep ublic of China, Vision and A ctions on J-

ointly Building Silk Road Economic Belt and 21st-Century Ma ritime Silk Road, htt ps://www.fm

prc.gov.cn/mfa_eng/zxxx_662805/t1249618.shtml (acce ssed on October 9, 2021).

8Ibid.

9Ibid.

10 Ibid.

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