"China?s Growing Economic Footprint China?s global economic footprint is projected to grow exponentially through its ?Belt and Road? initiative, to which China initially pledged US$124 billion, but may grow to US$900 billion according to the Financial Times. Started in 2013 by President Xi Jinping, this development strategy seeks to strengthen connectivity between China, Asia, Europe, Africa and beyond, based on the construction of infrastructure along a road ?belt? and a maritime ?road?, while serving to stimulate trade through harmonised regulations and reduced protectionism. This is complemented by the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), a new multilateral lending institution initiated by China with 37 member states and $100 billion in capital as of late 2016. This marks a new phase in China?s economic statecraft, initiated by its ?Going Out? policy in the early 2000?s, which was driven by a mix of factors including the accumulation of foreign reserves in the form of US government debt, saturation of the domestic market, and better in-house know how to compete internationally. Coinciding with decreased investment by Western countries in Asia and other developing countries since the 2008 financial crisis, China in recent years has emerged as one of the largest sources of outward FDI to Asia and the rest of the developing world. In the early stages of Going Out, given the Chinese government?s minimal social and environmental standards, overseas firms have tended to work exclusively with host governments to secure deals while paying scant attention to concerns raised by host communities. Globally, Chinese investments have earned the reputation of being efficient investors, but largely disconnected from the local contexts in which they operate. The growing economic rise of China alongside the backtracking of America?s pivot to Asia strategy with the killing of the Trans-Pacific Partnership deal, as well as the lack of other options to generate foreign exchange or capacity to regulate investments, raises concerns among developing countries that they will have few options but to continue to make political and economic concessions..."