Aligning the BRI and SDG: Tangible strengths and opportunities

China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) was implemented 10 years ago and it has significantly improved the economic status of different countries worldwide as it facilitated new investments, linked infrastructural networks and improved international trade. Along with this growth, China has also developed an environmental management framework for controlling outbound investments and finance.

In the past few years, China has taken a vital step forward in environmental management after announcing the inter-ministerial "Green Development Guidelines for Overseas Investment and Cooperation." These were regarded as the highest level of guidelines, where the investors and lenders were specifically asked to trust the international environmental standards if the norms implemented by the host country were less stringent than the domestic regulations imposed by China. This step highlights the improved environmental governance of the overseas activities conducted by China, which is a step beyond the general statement and guidelines issued earlier.