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Topic · Economics and Econometrics

Belt and Road Initiative

Belt and Road Initiative is a research topic within Economics and Econometrics. Science Explorer counts 4.9k research works in it since 1960. 15.3% of them reached the world's top 10% most cited for their field and year.

This cluster of papers focuses on the impact of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), examining its influence on sustainable development, infrastructure, energy security, environmental assessment, regional integration, social well-being, transport infrastructure, and geopolitics. The papers explore the opportunities and challenges presented by CPEC for Pakistan and the broader region.

  • China-Pakistan Economic Corridor
  • Sustainable Development
  • Infrastructure Development
  • Energy Security
  • Environmental Impact Assessment
  • Belt and Road Initiative
  • Regional Integration
  • Social Well-being
  • Transport Infrastructure
  • Geopolitics
Research works
4.9k
fractional, since 1960
In the world top 10%
753
per year above
Top-10% rate
15.3%
share of its works in the world top 10%
Growth, 2013–17 → 2018–22
+243%
the tick is no change

Which countries lead Belt and Road Initiative research?

By volume, Pakistan and Türkiye publish the most (390 and 344 works in 2022–2025).

By volume, 2022–2025

  1. 1 Pakistan 390 works
  2. 2 Türkiye 344 works
  3. 3 China 196 works
  4. 4 India 145 works
  5. 5 United States 122 works
  6. 6 Indonesia 104 works
  7. 7 Uzbekistan 65 works
  8. 8 Malaysia 54 works
  9. 9 Russia 52 works
  10. 10 United Kingdom 45 works

How concentrated that is

The same countries as shares of everything the list above accounts for. A node where two countries do two thirds of the work and one spread evenly across twelve read alike as a ranking and not at all alike here.

Pakistan: 25.7%Türkiye: 22.7%China: 12.9%India: 9.6%6 others listed: 29.1%26%largest
Pakistan390 · 25.7%Türkiye344 · 22.7%China196 · 12.9%India145 · 9.6%6 others listed441 · 29.1%

Shares of the rows listed above, not of the whole node.

Which institutions lead Belt and Road Initiative research?

By volume in 2022–2025, University of the Punjab publishes the most Belt and Road Initiative research, followed by International Islamic University, Islamabad and National University of Modern Languages.

By volume, 2022–2025

  1. 1 University of the PunjabPakistan 18 works
  2. 2 International Islamic University, IslamabadPakistan 17 works
  3. 3 National University of Modern LanguagesPakistan 14 works
  4. 4 Quaid-i-Azam UniversityPakistan 13 works
  5. 5 Islamia University of BahawalpurPakistan 13 works
  6. 6 University of PeshawarPakistan 11 works
  7. 7 Government College University, FaisalabadPakistan 11 works
  8. 8 University of KarachiPakistan 11 works
  9. 9 Ankara Hacı Bayram Veli UniversityTürkiye 10 works
  10. 10 Bahauddin Zakariya UniversityPakistan 9 works

Where is Belt and Road Initiative research done?

The largest centres of Belt and Road Initiative research in 2022–2025 are Islamabad (Pakistan), Lahore (Pakistan), Istanbul (Türkiye) and Tashkent (Uzbekistan). Among places with at least 20 works in it, it is an unusually large share of all research in Islamabad and Peshawar.

Largest cities, 2022–2025

  1. 1 Islamabad Pakistan 94 works
  2. 2 Lahore Pakistan 74 works
  3. 3 Istanbul Türkiye 72 works
  4. 4 Tashkent Uzbekistan 51 works
  5. 5 Ankara Türkiye 48 works
  6. 6 Karachi Pakistan 45 works
  7. 7 Beijing China 42 works
  8. 8 Moscow Russia 36 works
  9. 9 Peshawar Pakistan 33 works
  10. 10 New Delhi India 21 works

Where it is the local speciality

  1. IslamabadPK · 94.2 works31×
  2. PeshawarPK · 33.3 works26×
← less than its size predicts1×more →

Location quotient: how much more of its research is in Belt and Road Initiative than the world average.

See Belt and Road Initiative on the map

Where is the best place to study Belt and Road Initiative?

Among universities, judged by research, University of the Punjab, Nangarhar University and International Islamic University, Islamabad score highest, combining excellence, specialisation, size, growth and international reach. Research strength is one signal when choosing where to study; it does not measure teaching.

0%10%20%30%mean 16.89%fractional works in this node (log) →share in the world top 10% →University of the Punjab: 18, 13.3%Nangarhar University: 8, 28.4%International Islamic University, Islamabad: 17, 12.3%Quaid-i-Azam University: 13, 14.3%Bahauddin Zakariya University: 10, 21.2%Government College University, Faisalabad: 11, 16.2%Islamia University of Bahawalpur: 13, 13.1%University of Peshawar: 11, 12.9%National University of Modern Languages: 14, 13.4%Jawaharlal Nehru University: 9, 23.8%Nangarhar UniversityQuaid-i-Azam Univers…University of the Pu…International Islami…
above the meannear itbelow it

One dot per university in the table below. The upper left is the interesting corner: small places doing unusually strong work.

#UniversityScoreTop 10%SpecialisationWorksGrowth
1 University of the PunjabPakistan 46.313.3%30.5×18 —
2 Nangarhar UniversityAfghanistan 44.228.4%254.1×8 —
3 International Islamic University, IslamabadPakistan 43.912.3%72.4×17 —
4 Quaid-i-Azam UniversityPakistan 41.914.3%41.2×13 —
5 Bahauddin Zakariya UniversityPakistan 41.321.2%33.8×10 —
6 Government College University, FaisalabadPakistan 40.216.2%34.7×11 —
7 Islamia University of BahawalpurPakistan 39.813.1%37.7×13 —
8 University of PeshawarPakistan 36.612.9%68.4×11 —
9 National University of Modern LanguagesPakistan 36.113.4%102.9×14 —
10 Jawaharlal Nehru UniversityIndia 29.123.8%22.3×9 +133.3%

Universities only. Score blends excellence (30%), specialisation (25%), size (20%), growth (15%) and international reach (10%), 2015–2022; growth compares 2010–14 with 2015–19.

Is Belt and Road Initiative research growing?

Output in 2018–2022 was 243% higher than in 2013–2017, peaking in 2025. The fastest-growing topics are Belt and Road Initiative.

19801990200020102020
grewheldshrank

The same series as a ribbon — one cell per year, darker for more. The line above answers how much; this answers when.

Which topics inside it are moving

Growth and decline on one axis around a shared zero. Two lists side by side hide the thing that matters: whether the growth dwarfs the decline, or the other way round.