BEIJING's 'One Belt, One Road' initiative announced by China's President Xi Jinping more than two years ago is finally gathering steam just as the prices of oil, steel, concrete and other building materials sink, says Bloomberg.
The very volatility of commodity markets is making it easier for China to sell its ambitious vision to build roads, railways, pipelines and ports from China to Europe, diversifying the country's trade options and exporting the excess industrial capacity that's dragging down its own economy.
The so-called Silk Road Economic Belt and 21st-Century Maritime Silk Road - or "One Belt, One Road" - sits at the centre of President Xi's effort to bolster geo-economic clout across more than 70 countries in Asia, Europe and Africa.