The Railroad Economic Belt: Grand strategy, economic statecraft, and a new type of international relations

China's grand strategy is evolving towards greater activism under Xi Jinping - from 'keeping a low profile' to 'striving for achievement'. New initiatives such as forging 'a new type of international relations', 'a community with a shared future for mankind', and the Belt and Road Initiative have become marked features of the 'Xi-change' in China's grand strategy. From an economic statecraft perspective, this article hypothesises that the Xi-change led to a power centralisation in the implementation of the Belt and Road Initiative and the Railroad Economic Belt. To support its geopolitical and geoeconomic objectives, the Chinese state has replicated the domestic state-industrial complex. In the context of the Jakarta-Bandung High-speed Rail Corridor, the domestic roles of the National Development and Reform Commission and the China Railway Corporation have been internationalised to ensure the globalisation of China's high-speed rail industry could be conducted in a concerted and choreographed fashion.