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A few months after Xi Jinping was reappointed leader of the Chinese Communist Party for a further five years and with diplomatic tensions rising on the world stage in a context of multiple crises (Covid, war in Ukraine, energy etc.), how do things stand with the great development initiative launched by Beijing in 2013? Ten years ago now, an ambitious project of investment in the infrastructure of multiple countries, the ’Belt and Road Initiative’ (BRI) or ’New Silk Roads’ was launched. In 2018 a long article by Rémi Perelman in these pages had outlined its genesis and nature and China’s various aims for the project. Barthélémy Courmont, Frédéric Lasserre and Éric Mottet take that analysis further. They provide an update here on this multifaceted BRI, which has enabled Beijing to forge various economic and strategic alliances and substantially change the geopolitical balance in the affected regions (Central Asia, Europe, Africa etc.), but whose initial — very ambitious — objectives have evolved, due in part to the economic slowdown and also to an at times negative perception of the initiative. Courmont et al. also stress the emergence of alternative projects launched by other countries (USA, Japan, EU etc.), aiming to compete with the BRI, and Beijing’s concern to reshape its project for reasons of credibility: a BRI 2.0 is thus being rolled out. If it is to enjoy long-term success, this BRI 2.0., essential to a China whose economy has become highly dependent on the rest of the world, will have to both cope with sterner competition and avoid sending out an over-hegemonic image to its partners.