Paper short abstract:

Drawing on the context of power diffusion in the global governance, this paper analyses the extent to which China's Belt and Road Initiative promotes possibility of mutual learning to support international development and to foster "revitalizing the global partnership" (SDG 17).

Paper long abstract:

International development cooperation has gradually shifted from bilateral aid to multilateral cooperation. The rise of (re)emerging powers and an alternative form of development practices has laid a foundation to dismantle the traditional donor-recipient power dynamic, and create a space to achieve mutual prosperity.

This movement, has been underpinned by new initiatives such as China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), and the establishment of multilateral financial institutions including the Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) and New Development Bank (NDB). This shift is in line with the International Development Agenda, summarized by 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which have been built around the commitment to leave no one behind. Although the intention of the post-2015 development world is leaning towards more enhanced cooperation, it lacks clarity on the ways of addressing rooted inequality in development practices to pave the path towards a mutually prosperous world. There is a knowledge gap on the policy level regarding how to identify, implement and monitor joint actions.

This paper aims to investigate the role of China's BRI in the post-2015 development agenda, and the channels through which it can contribute to achieve SDG #17. This paper examines China's approach in international development, along with other actors and multilateral institutions. More specifically, it analyses China-EU cooperation under the BRI to investigate whether the rise of the (re)emerging powers challenge an asymmetrical nature of conventional development approaches, channel development cooperation towards more balanced approaches and facilitate mutual learning to (re)share sustainable development.