A stock-taking report dated February 2017 by ifri (Institut français des relations internationales – French Institute of International Relations), a Paris-based think-tank, describes how the One Belt, One Road (OBOR) initiative is beginning to take shape across continents, including East Africa, Central Asia, and Eurasia, albeit mainly in the form of energy, power, transport and other infrastructural projects, including those financed by the China-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB). The report points out that there are far-reaching geopolitical implications pointing to more China-centric international relations. It concludes by saying that this space continues to need watching. Download Ekman_et_al_china_new_silk_roads_2017 

Meanwhile, the first freight train to run from Britain to China departed on 10 April, carrying goods like vitamins, baby products and pharmaceuticals, according to a Reuters report. The 7,500-mile (12,000 km) journey from eastern England to eastern China will take three weeks, around half the time needed for the equivalent journey by boat. The first freight train from China arrived in Britain in January. From Barking, the new train will pass through the Channel Tunnel into France and on to Belgium, Germany, Poland, Belarus, Russia and Kazakhstan before ending up in Yiwu in China.

A parallel development not touched in the above Report is the Pearl River Delta Greater Bay Area vision endorsed at the "Two Sessions" in Beijing in March 2017. This emerging super- megapolis to encompass Hong Kong, Shenzhen, Macao, Guangzhou, and Zhuhai is likely to be a home-based economic, innovation, manufacturing, financial and entertainment dynamo poised to drive at least the initial part of the "maritime silk road" development.