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Home > JOURNAL > Vol. 5 (2016) > Number 2

 

Abstract

The Maritime Silk Road (MSR) is the channel connecting China and countries overseas as far as Europe. It is also a road for movements of people among MSR into and out of China. Over time, the scale of emigration from China has been substantial. There are now about 60 million ethnic Chinese living overseas. The resultant mutual interactions between Chinese migrants and local inhabitants in their religions, cultures, the arts, technologies and materials have created impacts that far exceed those arising from trading activities. The Chinese overseas and their financial strength, outstanding capability and familiarity with local cultures are important partners in the promotion of the Twenty-First Century MSR that is initiated by China. Fujian was the province that contributed most to the expansion of the ancient Silk Road between the thirteenth and nineteenth centuries, and its inhabitants will similarly play an important role in the development of the new MSR.
In October 2013, President Xi Jinping of China proposed in the Indonesian Parliament the idea of the “Twenty-First Century MSR” by which China will widen its collaboration with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in various areas, such as mutual exchange to overcome respective deficiencies, complementing strengths, sharing opportunities, and facing common challenges for mutual development and prosperity (习近平/Xi Jinping, 2013). Since then, a maritime strategic plan has been formally initiated. Many provincial towns have formulated their own action plans focusing largely on expanding trade and investment with nations along the MSR. These plans include creating the platforms for the trading of products, setting up trading interchange centres, trading bases and towns, technology and industrial parks, and tax-free zones. In the Twenty-First Century MSR development plan, Fujian Province is designated as a “core-zone”. Nevertheless, the MSR is not only a business trading route, but more importantly also a route for the interaction of civilizations and peoples. Focusing on the past and contemporary history of the Chinese abroad, this study will examine the MSR as a route of trade and migration and the role of the Chinese in the cultural interactions between China and the world. It will emphasizes the key role of Fujian in the emigration and expansion processes of the Silk Road during the thirteenth to nineteenth centuries, as a prelude to the making of the province as the core region for China’s maritime development.

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