Assignment 4: ConnectEast's Response to the New Silk Road Initiative

This case study examines the impact of China's New Silk Road (OBOR) initiative on the Australian construction company, ConnectEast. The assignment analyzes the political, economic, and security implications of OBOR, focusing on how it affects international business and expansion. It explores ConnectEast's strategies in response to China's growing influence and the opportunities presented by infrastructure projects. The study delves into the concept of a 'community of common destiny' and how China aims to integrate its neighbors through economic cooperation and cultural ties. It also discusses the implications for global business, including the need for ConnectEast to adjust its approach to compete with China's interest-based strategies. The paper references various Chinese experts and publications to understand the internal drivers and external goals of the OBOR strategy, providing insights into the changing global dynamics and the potential impact on ConnectEast's business objectives. The case study concludes by highlighting the need for ConnectEast to focus on implications for international business, and adjust to the current global economic model.

Running Head: Assignment 4
Assignment 4

Assignment 4 1
Abstract
The expectation of this proposition is to talk about the results of the improvement of the
Chinese New Silk Road for Australian joining. The New Silk Road, otherwise called "One
Belt, One Road" (OBOR), plans to encourage exchange and fortify monetary ties between the
Middle Kingdom and Europe by coordinating markets and weaving a huge net of
infrastructures with seaports, railways, and airport in Australia. As a result of its size, the
New Silk Road will have major political, monetary and security suggestions for every one of
those nations engaged with it and even past. Consequently, and given the vulnerability
encompassing this task, it is fundamental a consistent research on the outcomes that its
advancement may involve in a few regions.

Assignment 4 2
Table of Contents
Introduction...........................................................................................................................................3
Case analysis.........................................................................................................................................4
Discussion.............................................................................................................................................6
Implications for international business in practice.................................................................................8
References.............................................................................................................................................9

Assignment 4 3
Introduction
It will be progressively attractive, if a bit much, for Australian organizations to discover
accomplices to embrace business venture. It implies that Australian organizations and
financial specialists could collaborate with Chinese organizations to push them to de-hazard
politically delicate undertakings, for example, ports, utilities, and transport extends over the
locale. Moreover, the New Silk Road will be the stage to enable Australia to build its impact
on the Old Continent and add radial powers to the global business strategy among the
Member States. In any case, the EU and its Member States ought not to belittle the
difficulties presented by the New Silk Road and they should achieve a typical and persuading
position to utilize all their dealing capacity to have the capacity to achieve better
concurrences with China at the arranging table. This hypothesis enables the exploration to
center around the national elements behind the demeanors of Member States towards the
Australia and also examine the likelihood to achieve such brought together Australian
reaction to the New Silk Road (Jinchen, 2016). The management of Australian organizations
guarantee that this undertaking is proposed to be commonly valuable for every single taking
an interest nation, and a few specialists anticipate that it will be particularly positive for
Australian economies, since it is relied upon to build exchange, investment and encourage
access to new markets, and in addition to enhance network by making and modernizing
infrastructures. In this way, ConnectEast is finding that the many-sided quality of
development in the locale has been useful for business. Enormous infrastructure programs are
multinational undertakings with Korean, Japanese, Chinese, and Western firms regularly
taking a shot at a similar business process. With open and private associations, it's not simply
the designers but rather significant state-possessed stakeholders, and possibly non-

Assignment 4 4
government bodies like the Australian Development Bank who are quick to guarantee
legitimate oversight (Ferdinand, 2016).
Case analysis
ConnectEast is an Australian based construction company that was found in 2002.
Headquarter of ConnectEast is located at Ringwood, VIC in Australia. The reason for this
indifference can be explained by the fact that for the majority of Chinese experts, true
economic interest does not currently imply expanding into international markets, but rather
means growing domestic markets through a symbolic swallowing of international markets,
and incorporating them into the Chinese sphere of influence(Unit and Britain, 2015).
According to this logic, all nation-states accepting the Chinese development model as their
own would in this way be agreeing to follow new rules for globalization, set by China, and
for this reason, could be rightfully considered domesticated, and ConnectEast can expand its
construction business int the global context. This process of business internationalization of
neighboring economies through the acceptance of a development model is normally referred
to as "building of a community of common destiny".In the minds of Chinese policy experts,
this community shall by no means be limited to economic co-operation, as it will also imply
the geopolitical and socio-cultural unity of all the countries involved, the hearts of their
citizens being linked together with the help of common values to increase the business of
ConnectEast(Sidaway and Woon, 2017). It is hard to tell exactly what kind of values would
serve as the basis for such cultural interconnection, but an intensive elaboration on this issue
is ongoing (Tsui et al., 2017). It is interesting to note that this work has become possible only
thanks to the common economic platform already provided by China to its neighbors (Sheu
and Kundu, 2018). In other words, China aims to tie its neighbors to itself firstly through
win-win economic co-operation, and only later through the web of cultural links that
effectively build upon common economic interests. In this way, it is possible to speak about a

Assignment 4 5
community of common destiny, and it does seem this is something China truly seeks to
achieve through the implementation of its OBOR strategy. The marketing and other
objectives of ConnectEast are relying on its growing economy, the entrepreneurial spirit of its
business people, and the attractiveness of its adjustable and scalable development model.
Besides that, China is now ready to offer the developing world a new kind of unity based on
the new rules for political and economic globalization it is currently seeking to set business
objectives of ConnectEast. In the course of this process, China will play the role of an
invisible leader of this newly created alliance, being confident in its moral right and even its
moral obligation to repair the deteriorating global order(Clarke, 2016). While such an alliance
is often seen as being built upon an ideology-free paradigm of economic development, its
fruits are supposed to include a set of common interests and common values. A name for this
set of standards has not yet been coined, but its vision has been rather intuitively summarised
by one of the lesser-known Chinese experts as “‘One Belt, One Road’ leads the world into a
Eurasian century”.
It is important to understand that ‘One Belt, One Road’ is not only an economic or
infrastructure initiative for the organization as ConnectEast (Yunling, 2015). In reality,
ConnectEast also has many features of a long-term foreign-policy strategy, the scope of
which goes beyond purely economic development goals. It is equally important to understand
that if ‘One Belt, One Road' proves to be successful globally, the existing Western monopoly
on economic development recipes may be coming to an end, as in this case, there will then
exist an alternative model that many countries across the globe will be willing to embrace. In
this situation, ConnectEast will have to face much stronger opposition to the imposition of
their specific values on the recipients of economic aid(Wu, 2015). As such, they may have to
adjust their current value-based approach in world politics to be able to compete with the
largely interest-based approach characteristic of China. In this way, China will play a much

Assignment 4 6
bigger role in globalization, and any attempts to block its efforts will prove counter-
productive because it has the resources, the vision, and the political will to promote its own
understanding of global rules and its own version of ‘universal' values.
Discussion
This paper attempts to present China’s new global strategy, popularly known as the ‘One
Belt, One Road’ initiative (or simply, OBOR) in the same fashion as Chinese experts do for
domestic audiences(Lim et al. 2016). This approach will contribute to a better understanding
of the origins of China’s OBOR strategy, its internal drivers, and its external goals for many
organizations like ConnectEast. This strategy also helps to avoid misinterpretations that can
be caused by relying exclusively on pamphlets that have been prepared specifically for
international audiences. One should admit, however, that any attempt to present the entire
spectrum of ‘One Belt, One Road’ ideas and opinions that circulate in China within a single
report would be impossible. As such, careful selection of the most representative, yet most
influential publications on this issue becomes truly crucial (Krishnan and Sriganesh, 2018).
This research paper tries to stick to only the most frequently quoted books and articles that
have been recently published in China, yet at the same time does its best to keep the balance
between popularity and variety. Unlike political scientists or economists, these researchers do
not directly influence the decision-making process for ConnectEast, yet their views and
insights sometimes provide better clues towards understanding the hidden motifs that shape
the minds of those responsible for working out and implementing political and economic
strategies of ConnectEast. Any such selection presents only a limited picture of the entire
discussion currently taking place in China.
Nevertheless, the approach described above is helpful in clarifying other fragmentary insights
into the hearts and minds of those behind the scenes of what is rightly called the greatest
international project in China's modern history to increase the business processes of

Assignment 4 7
ConnectEast(Minnick, 2015). It is important to note in this regard that most Chinese experts
never challenge globalization itself. However, they have come to believe that its mechanisms,
and the roles of its leading actors, should now be reconsidered to more accurately reflect the
emerging reality and changing balance of power in global politics and economics. It is
precisely their mission that OBOR is destined to accomplish success factor for ConnectEast.
To put it in a slightly different way, the tremendous success of China's internal development
strategy and the recent rise of its international profile have given it a right to lead in the
imminent reform of the slowly deteriorating international political and economic systems,
previously based on the idea of ConnectEast. The OBOR strategy, under these circumstances,
is naturally seen as a roadmap for global transformation predetermined by the decision
making the process of ConnectEast.ConnectEast is in achieving this status that they see the
real purpose behind the launch of the OBOR national strategy (Swaine, 2015).
When speaking about the exact recipe that China is offering to the developing world to save it
from the ongoing crisis of globalization, Chinese experts usually mention China's own brand
of economic development, which, they sincerely believe, can bring the global population
everything it really needs. The existence of such a state, they explain, is the natural outcome
of a persistently followed general policy of building ‘socialism with Chinese characteristics'.
Socialism of this kind, they apparently believe, will ultimately replace, or at least supplement,
the current neo-liberal capitalist model on a global scale to expand the construction business
of ConnectEast(Zhang, 2016). To prove their point, Chinese experts refer to well-known
statistical facts that illustrate the effectiveness of the development model adopted in their
country like Australia. In fact, their arguments do sound convincing, and many developing
countries across the world are impressed including Australia, both with China's economic
growth figures, and to no lesser degree, with its methods of reaching political stability, which
some less fortunate countries can only dream about. As such, it is fundamentally in sharing

Assignment 4 8
with the developing world the recipe for reaching an economic and political consensus that
Chinese experts see their mission, and it is this very message that is reflected in OBOR's most
important slogans for business expansion process of ConnectEast (Godement, and Kratz,
2015). One can, therefore, assume that despite its explicit economic image, the real essence
of the OBOR strategy is a new ideology of non-political development to increase the
potential growth of ConnectEast. In fact, this rather paradoxical conclusion should not come
as a surprise, as it has been economic development, the elevated status of which has almost
become sacred in China, that now plays the role of the dominant ideology, and that
effectively legitimizes the domestic political system of Australia to expand the business of
ConnectEast in global context.
Implications for international business in practice
The management of ConnectEast needs to focus on the implication for international business
for expanding the profitability and proficiency(Du, 2016). OBOR strategy of China can help
ConnectEast to formulate new business idea and concept for expanding the business. The
need for adjustment to the current global economic model and global political system
includes a growing ability of modern China to lead in reform, are generally viewed as
historical premises for the launch of the OBOR strategy. Meanwhile, the management of
ConnectEast needs to prove the new status of their country as an emerging global power,
ready to take its share of responsibility for the well-being of the entire developing world that
directly influence business expansion. As some of them point out in this regard, the
ConnectEast has long requested China to assume such a burden. They add, however, that any
such power shift would also mean that China must be treated as the world’s new superpower,
and the leader of ConnectEast must make a solid relation with China(Ze, 2014).

Assignment 4 9
References
Clarke, M., 2016. ‘One belt, one road’and China’s emerging Afghanistan dilemma.
Australian Journal of International Affairs, 70(5), pp.563-579.
Du, M.M., 2016. China’s “One Belt, One Road” Initiative: Context, Focus, Institutions, and
Implications. The Chinese Journal of Global Governance, 2(1), pp.30-43.
Ferdinand, P., 2016. Westward ho—the China dream and ‘one belt, one road’: Chinese
foreign policy under Xi Jinping. International Affairs, 92(4), pp.941-957.
Godement, F. and Kratz, A., 2015. "One Belt, One Road": China's Great Leap Outward.
European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR).
Jinchen, T., 2016. One Belt and One Road’: Connecting China and the world. Global
Infrastructure Initiative website.
Krishnan, R. and Sriganesh, B., 2018. One Belt One Road. MHD Supply Chain Solutions,
48(2), p.50.
Lim, T.W., Chan, H.H.L., Tseng, K.H.Y. and Lim, W.X., 2016. China's one belt one road
initiative. London: Imperial College Press.
Minnick, W., 2015. China’s ‘One belt, one road’strategy. Defense News, 12.
Sheu, J.B. and Kundu, T., 2018. Forecasting time-varying logistics distribution flows in the
One Belt-One Road strategic context. Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and
Transportation Review, 117, pp.5-22.
Sidaway, J.D. and Woon, C.Y., 2017. Chinese Narratives on “One Belt, One Road”(一带带带)
in Geopolitical and Imperial Contexts. The Professional Geographer, 69(4), pp.591-603.
SU, I.P.D.I.E. and TRASPORTI, C.E., 2015. One belt one road.

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Swaine, M.D., 2015. Chinese views and commentary on the ‘One Belt, One Road’initiative.
China Leadership Monitor, 47(2), p.3.
Tsui, S., Wong, E., CHI, L. and Tiejun, W., 2017. One Belt, One Road. monthly review.
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Wu, J., 2015. One Belt and One Road, Far-reaching Initiative. China & US Focus.
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