China’s Digital Silk Road: Opportunities and Risks for Developing Countries

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Abstract

The Digital Silk Road (DSR) is an integral part of the One Belt and One Road Initiative first proposed by China’s President Xi Jinping in 2013. Currently the goals of the DSR include inclusive economic growth, contribution to the achievement of UN Sustainable Development Goals and construction of the community with common interests and a common future in cyberspace. DSR includes several areas of cooperation between countries such as digital interconnectedness, development of cross-border e-commerce, digitalization of the economy, creation and proliferation of technical standards and addressing issues of cybersecurity and cyber sovereignty. For participating countries, DSR presents unique opportunities, which enable them to bridge digital divide and ensure domestic economy modernization, but also imposes risks related to cybersecurity, data privacy and protection and emergence of technological dependency on China. This study is devoted to analyses of respective risks and opportunities and development of state policy recommendations regarding developing countries DSR participation. Policy recommendations are aimed to deliver, on the one hand, the most favorable economic effect and, on the other hand, to mitigate risks identified in the research.

About the authors

K. N Voytikov

Lomonosov Moscow State University

Email: konstantin.voytikov@gmail.com
Post-graduate student, Department of Oriental Political Studies, Faculty of Global Studies Moscow, Russia

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