CHINESE INVESTMENT IN UZBEKISTAN'S MINING SECTOR UNDER THE BELT AND ROAD INITIATIVE (BRI): STRATEGIC DRIVERS, NETWORK EMBEDDEDNESS, AND GLOBAL TRANSMISSION
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.51699/0r64s143Keywords:
Belt and Road, Network Embeddedness, Global Value Chains, Resource Geopolitics, Development Finance, Global Economic GovernanceAbstract
Chinese mining investment in countries along the Belt and Road represents not only a deepening of bilateral economic and trade cooperation but also a new variable influencing the global economic landscape. Taking Uzbekistan as a case study, this paper constructs a three-stage analytical framework of "Strategic Drivers-Network Embeddedness-Global Transmission" to systematically examine the complete logic chain of Chinese mining investment, from its motivations and local practices to the transmission of global effects. The study finds that, at the strategic driver level, China's resource security needs and Uzbekistan's "resource-based development" strategy form a deep strategic coupling, providing the fundamental impetus for large-scale investment. At the network embeddedness level, Chinese investment deeply embeds itself into Uzbekistan's industrial system through technology transfer, infrastructure construction, and capital injection, reshaping its mining sector from a "point-based extraction" model into a "full-chain integration" model, generating significant technological spillovers and localization effects. Building on this, the paper focuses on demonstrating the global transmission effects of the investment: First, it reshapes global resource supply chains by constructing a Eurasian mineral resources corridor, enhancing supply diversity and resilience. Second, it innovates the "resource-finance-infrastructure" bundled model, offering an alternative development financing approach for Global South countries. Third, it promotes the rise of the Central Asian "land power" resource hub, subtly altering the global trade and capital flow patterns historically oriented towards maritime power. The study concludes that Chinese mining investment in Uzbekistan has become a crucial window for observing the "multipolarization" trend of globalization.
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