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Algeria strongly welcomed cooperation with China along with its search for an economic and political partner that respects Algeria’s sovereignty, ethnicity, religious, and cultural peculiarities, especially as Algeria suffered a bitter experience under the French colonial rule that deprived it of a window into global markets even after the achievement of independence, and China’s partnership seemed like an auspicious beginning for the Algerian economy. Indeed, China opened its arms to Algeria and became its largest trading partner, surpassing France that has traditionally been Algeria’s number one supplier. Both countries are committed to carrying forward their friendship in a spirit of equality and mutual respect, mutual trust, mutual benefit, and common gain. On the one hand, China attaches great importance to its bilateral relations with Algeria, which were raised to a comprehensive strategic partnership level in February 2014, and on the other hand, the Algerian government played a very important role in encouraging Chinese companies to invest in various fields, adding new depth to the Sino-Algerian relationship.

This article examines a number of trade and investment areas in which trust-building needs to occur between China and its ASEAN Belt and Road Initiative partners in order to better realize the economic benefits promised by the initiative. A number of economic goals of ASEAN converge with those of the BRI, such as those relating to building physical, regulatory and digital connectivity, and this convergence provides potential for joint economic growth and cooperation. Some of ASEAN’s urgent infrastructure needs, for instance, could be met through ASEAN-BRI collaboration. However, a number of issues which have arisen in BRI-related projects within and outside ASEAN need to be addressed in a convincing way, if ASEAN and China are to better achieve such economic goals. These include building trust by fostering confidence that the BRI brings domestic trade and investment benefits, good governance and financial and environmental sustainability, and in the newer field of digital connectivity, by ensuring meaningful dialogs and actions on the use of existing and emerging technology in the BRI.