The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), previously known as One Belt, One Road (OBOR), is a global development framework launched by the Chinese government in 2013. Conceptually inspired by the ancient Silk Road (a network of trade routes extending from East Asia to Europe) the BRI too, according to its promoters, aims at bringing prosperity to the contemporary world through connectivity lato sensu. In practice, it offers a framework through which China partners with governments and international organisations across the world in a wide array of development projects, mostly (although not only) as a source of investments and commercial loans.