China's New Great Game

"The Great Game" is a term to describe the political and diplomatic confrontation that existed during most of the 19th Century between the British Empire and the Russian Empire centered around Afghanistan and its surrounding regions. ¿The Belt and Road Initiative¿ is a development strategy and framework in the 21st century to focus on connectivity and cooperation among China and countries from Central Asia to Europe. Both of the two have great influence on regional connectivity. By introducing the two concepts, the author analyses the influences as well as the challenges of The Belt and Road Initiative geopolitically and geoeconomicly. The Great Game has become history while The Belt and Road Initiative is the booming future awaiting countries in the regions to participate. From the framework of The Belt and Road Initiative, it is clear that a new international regional strategy that connects China and its surrounding countries will be crucial to the further international cooperation in areas like trade and monetary cooperation, traffic connectivity and people-to-people exchanges. The Belt and Road Initiative will bring new impetus to the global economy.