China has made several moves in recent months to advance its ambitious aim to become the trade and transportation hub of Asia.

       To its west, China has agreed to build a rail line across Central Asia. Beijing also said it would help Vietnam plan three rail lines leading to the countries’ shared border. And China is trying to persuade Russia and North Korea to let it reopen a long-closed port on the Sea of Japan.

       Kazakhstan

       RUSSIA

       Mongolia

       A long-closed port

       may be reopened

       A new rail line

       across Central Asia

       Hunchun

       Uzbekistan

       Kyrgyzstan

       North

       Korea

       Beijing

       Samarkand

       Kashgar

       South

       Korea

       Japan

       China

       Afghanistan

       Shanghai

       Nepal

       Pakistan

       Bhutan

       Three rail lines

       planned in Vietnam

       Bangladesh

       Taiwan

       India

       Myanmar

       Hanoi

       LAOS

       Thailand

       Vietnam

       400 MILES

       Kazakhstan

       RUSSIA

       A long-closed port

       may be reopened

       Mongolia

       A new rail line

       across Central Asia

       Hunchun

       North

       Korea

       Kashgar

       Beijing

       Samarkand

       South

       Korea

       Japan

       China

       Afghanistan

       Shanghai

       Three rail lines

       planned in Vietnam

       Pakistan

       Nepal

       Taiwan

       India

       Hanoi

       LAOS

       Thailand

       Vietnam

       Philippines

       500 MILES

       RUSSIA

       A new rail line

       across Central Asia

       A long-closed port

       may be reopened

       Kashgar

       Beijing

       Samarkand

       China

       Shanghai

       Three rail lines

       planned in Vietnam

       Hanoi

       By The New York Times

       If successful, the plans would give China closer ties to the economies of Northeast and Southeast Asia, the Mideast and even the Arctic, the latest steps in its 11-year-old Belt and Road Initiative to create a more China-centered global order.

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       Each of the efforts, in varying ways, faces obstacles. The nation’s top leader, Xi Jinping, will need close cooperation from border countries, some of which are politically volatile, like Kyrgyzstan, or internationally isolated, like North Korea. Neighboring countries that have long been wary of China, like Vietnam, will need to be reassured.

       A similar venture, a three-year-old rail line that China has forged into landlocked Laos in Southeast Asia, has been welcomed by some there for bringing an influx of Chinese mining investments and tourism to the country. But others have warned of Chinese domination of the Laotian economy.

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