German experts impressed by initiatives

Since China proposed the Silk Road Economic Belt and 21st Century Maritime Silk Road initiatives in 2013, German think tanks have been paying special attention to the projects. And some German experts on China can influence their country's policymakers.

One such expert, Nadine Godehardt, a researcher with the German Institute for International and Security Affairs, said in a June 2014 report the "Belt and Road Initiatives" were "a reaction" to the US policy of "rebalancing in Asia" on one hand and an extension of China's 2011 New Silk Road Strategy on the other. Godehardt also saw the initiatives as an answer to Russian President Vladimir Putin's idea of Eurasian integration.

Saying that Germany and other European countries, even the West as a whole, paid little attention to China's influence in its western neighborhood, Godehardt also viewed the initiatives as "a proof that the Chinese leadership will more confidently represent the political and economic interests of the country". Godehardt belongs to the group of German experts who in general have a positive view of the "Belt and Road Initiatives".