Conceptualizing sustainability in China's belt and road initiative: A longitudinal analysis of scholarship (2013 - 2024)

Abstract

One decade after China's announcement of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), theoretical and practical debates linger about the environmental impacts. However, no studies have systematically analyzed how academic research conceptualizes BRI and sustainability within it. This study reviews definitional aspects and sustainability discourses concerning the BRI. Analyzing a sample of 171 peer-reviewed journal articles published between 2013 and 2024, the study uses a coding framework comprising eight categories broadly covering the sustainability building blocks of the BRI. Additionally, a comparison of academic conceptualizations and China's policy practices reveals several gaps on the topics of stakeholders, investment agencies, investment volumes, and sectors. Outdated or vague conceptualizations are found in research that examines (i) China as a unitary actor, (ii) the centrality of China-led organizations like the AIIB, and (iii) BRI investment volumes and impacts. Findings also reveal that scholarly knowledge about the BRI, a decade after the initiative's announcement, remains limited and disparate. The study's meta-framework advances the literature by providing a template for bringing sustainability studies and BRI studies together into more meaningful interface.