ABSTRACT Announced in 2013, President Xi Jinping’s ​One Belt, One Road ​(OBOR) initiative is China’s roadmap toward primary economic influence status in the Eurasia region (Koleski, 2017). OBOR aims to boost economic development in China’s less prosperous western provinces (Koleski, 2017).​ ​According to Koleski, the 13​th​ Five-Year Plan identifies the western provinces as economically [...]