Belt, Road a path to financial integration

Financial integration is one of the five areas of cooperation priority for the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative, but it seems this topic has not received the consideration it deserves. Rather, most analyses have focused on its ambitious infrastructure investment goals of the Belt and Road Initiative in the countries along the two routes, because big amounts of money easily grab attention. For instance, the Financial Times has suggested the "colossal undertaking" could cost tens of trillions of dollars to finance.

If we define financial integration as enhancing capital mobility across borders, can we find indications that the Belt and Road Initiative will pave a path in that direction?

To help answer that question, three documents are especially useful. The first is the March 2015 "Vision and Actions on Jointly Building Silk Road Economic Belt and 21st Century Maritime Silk Road", which provides the initial framework for the concept proposed by President Xi Jinping in fall 2013. It states that "financial integration is an important underpinning for implementing the Belt and Road Initiative", and offers a long list of options in the financial space, including cross-border economic cooperation zones, bond market development, regulatory coordination, development of new institutions such as the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank and the Silk Road Fund, and credit rating cooperation.