The Belt and Road Initiative and the influence of Islamic economies

While the name ‘Silk Road’ connotes significant Chinese influence, in fact since the eighth century the old land route ran mostly through Islamic countries and areas, from present-day Xinjiang to Istanbul, and the old sea route passed through Islamic trading principalities for centuries. Modern Islamic economies, and concepts of Islamic economics, will exert considerable impact on the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI, also known as OBOR) development programmes. Although a non-Muslim majority country, China has a longer, deeper and more influential history of cultural interaction with Islam than any other large country or major culture, save perhaps India and Indian culture. The new ‘West’ for China consists of countries with great variety of Islamic economies, and so I argue that China has certain unique advantages to engage with Islamic economies and utilise Islamic banking and finance. Using Kazakhstan, Pakistan and Iran as examples, this paper argues that variation across modern views of ‘Islamic economics’ not only results in challenges but also holds promise for BRI development strategies in countries with Muslim majorities.