Expert says B&R Initiative can boost China's soft power

LOS ANGELES - The Belt and Road Initiative is important for building soft power, said Clayton Dube, executive director of the University of Southern California's US-China Institute. "China has been accumulating greater soft power in several aspects."

Proposed by President Xi Jinping in 2013, the Belt and Road Initiative aims to build trade and infrastructure networks connecting Asia with Europe and Africa on and beyond the ancient Silk Road routes. It comprises the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road.

"Once the railways are built into Southeast Asia, the tunnel through the mountains in Laos, the extension of railways into Central Asia - once that begins, it will help those countries with their own economic development," he said. "And if China is seen as an important partner in that, that will definitely help its soft power, it will make the country more attractive."