The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) has been a focal issue for understanding the foreign policy of the People’s Republic of China (PRC). Some observers view the BRI as representing a new phase of economic globalization and regional economic integration. Others argue that the BRI’s primary motivating factors are domestic and that the massive program is chiefly aimed at creating new markets, maintaining economic stability, resolving regional development imbalances, and transferring industrial overcapacity. Both views have their valid points, but overlook the BRI’s key role in supporting China’s domestic economic reforms. This article argues that the BRI should be understood as a major component of China’s program of “supply-side structural reform” (????????, gongjice jiegouxing gaige ). The “Authoritative Person” and Supply-Side Structural Reform The BRI was first announced in 2013 and officially incorporated into the PRC constitution in 2017 ( Xinhua , October 24, 2017). The concept of […]