Chinese “Colonialism,” Capital Accumulation, and the Belt and Road Initiative

Global capital accumulation involves international trade, a flow of profits, interest and rent from investments, and wealth owned by a country’s investors in other countries. With the increased role of China in the global economy, some American elites have come to view China as the US’s “one peer competitor” and a threat to its hegemony. Their mobilization in response to this perception includes a claim that China practices colonialism or neo-colonialism. The US campaign particularly focuses on the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), China’s multi-faceted effort to spur investment and infrastructure building in developing countries. This panel will elaborate on mechanisms of global capital accumulation in the context of China’s interface with the Global South, especially through case studies of key BRI countries, Ethiopia and Sri Lanka.