Building Global Higher Education Networks through the Belt and Road Initiative

China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) promotes interregional connectivity. Unprecedented in geographic scope and policy ambition, BRI generated considerable interest, particularly in the geopolitical implications of China’s hard infrastructure investments. Less examined are developments in the higher education and knowledge sectors, which are integral to the BRI and its multi-dimensional vision of connectivity. Chinese leadership frequently underline the key role of educational cooperation and ‘building a BRI community of education’ for upholding the principles of openness, mutual benefit, and win-win cooperation. Others emphasize the China-centric structure of the networks forged through the BRI. In this paper, we explore two networks that China has spearheaded in the higher education sector since President Xi announced the BRI in 2013: University Alliance of the Silk Road (2015), and the Asian University Alliance (2017). Specifically, we examine their organizational structure, objectives, and activities of the two networks. In doing so, we aim to understand how and why China varies the logics of connectivity in a way that would enhance its positionality. Our research aims to contribute to several sets of literature, including the role of China in the evolving international order, political economy of knowledge production and higher education regionalisms.