The Belt and Road Initiative and the Evolving Role of Multilateral Development Banks

Our next Brown Bag Talk will take place on 12 March 2026 at 14:00 CET. De:link//Re:link PI Valentin Kruesmann (ZOiS) will discuss his research in a short lecture moderated by fellow PI and ZOiS researcher Julia Langbein. The talk is titled The Belt and Road Initiative and the Evolving Role of Multilateral Development Banks.

Since its launch in 2013, the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) has contributed to addressing infrastructure gaps around the world. While often under investigated, Multilateral Development Banks have been central to the initiative. In this talk, Valentin Krüsmann will examine how the role of these banks has reshaped the financing of the BRI and discuss the implications of multilateral finance for the initiative’s governance qualities and its position as a Chinese geo-economic strategy.