BELT AND ROAD INITIATIVE: GLOBALIZATION CHINESE WAY?

The paper contributes to the growing body of the researches on Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) by adding center-periphery and global value chains (GVCs) dimensions to the concept. Being an essential part of China's program for "great national revival by the 2049" (second of two so called Two Centenaries), BRI is de-facto a complex and wide-range plan that shows how China is going to upgrade its supply chains and develop a full range of core functions inside the world system. This is the first time that such economically large and politically independent state tries to lift itself up from semi-periphery to the core of the world economy. Five main aspects of BRI, namely policy coordination, facility connectivity, unimpeded trade, financial integration and people-to-people bond need to be understood as Chinese attempt to upgrade its position in GVCs. China needs cooperation with peripheral developing countries to fully realize its competitive advantages. Declining productivity of foreign TNC affiliations, emerging alternative channels of investment, active promotion of the free trade agenda, training the pool of foreign workforce and "inclusive globalization" as new ideological concept - all are elements of possible China-driven transformation of the whole world economy. China-led industrialization of developing countries is already changing spatial profile of many industries, and this will become the main factor of new stage of globalization. Whether the course to become successful depends on could Chinese "inclusive globalization" and BRI indeed serve the interest of people of developing nations and fight the global inequalities. This is the only way for China to become a truly core power. In this view, BRI is a longstanding megaproject to dramatically transform the world-system that is currently too closely bound to only one the political leader.