China’s Belt and Road Initiative

The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) was established by Chinese President Xi Jinping in 2013. BRI consists of the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road. It aims to boost connectivity along and beyond the routes…

Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank

The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) is an international financial institution originally proposed by China. In Beijing on October 24, 2014, twenty-one nations signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) that formally established the AIIB. In addition to China, the initial…

Expanding Role for Chinese Renminbi

The Chinese Renminbi (RMB) is emerging as a new global currency. Internationalization of the RMB began in 2009 with the launch of the RMB Cross-Border Trade Settlement Pilot Scheme by Chinese authorities. Under the terms of this initiative cross-border transactions…

Economic Recovery in Asia

The Royal Statistical Society cel­ebrated its 175th anniversary year in 2009. Founded in 1834 as the Statistical Society of London, it has a his­tory of progress and accomplishment in academic research and professional practice in the field of statistics. Celebration…

Asian Economic Outlook

The Asian Development Bank and the World Bank recently published forecasts of current economic growth rates for various coun­tries. The results include annual rates of 7.2 percent for China, 5.1 percent for India and 3.6 percent for Indonesia. By contrast,…