Andy Browne, editorial director for the Bloomberg New Economy, talks to Jonathan Hillman, author of the book The Emperor’s New Road: China and the Project of the Century.

That project, of course, is the Belt and Road Initiative: the grand strategy of president Xi Jinping who has made it his foreign policy signature. But what is it exactly? An imperial effort, certainly. But according to Jonathan not a very organized one. And one that could repeat the mistakes of past empires.