Xi Jinping shakes hands with Chinese construction workers at a Belt and Road Initiative site in Trinidad and Tobago in June 2023. Frederic Dubray/AFP via Getty Images December 13, 2023 Growth of autocracies will expand Chinese global influence via Belt and Road Initiative as it enters second decade Richard Carney, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen More autocratic governments, growing urbanization and emerging technologies will bolster the spread of Chinese influence around the world, an expert on emerging economies explains.