AcknowledgementsAbbreviationsIntroduction1. "One Belt, One Road": Financing the New Silk RoadBelt and Road InitiativeAsian Infrastructure Investment BankAsia's infrastructure arms race2. Marching West: The Economics of Power in Central AsiaXinjiangCentral AsiaRussia3. In the Heat of the Sun: Advancing Down the MekongLaosCambodia4. California Dreamin': How China "Lost" MyanmarGateway to the Bay of Bengal5. A String of Pearls: Fear and Loathing in the Indian OceanIndian OceanPakistanIndiaSri Lanka6. Fiery Waters: Mapping the South China SeaVietnamConclusion

'Understanding the philosophy behind China's national aspirations will be a defining task of 21st-century diplomacy. In that vein, China's Asian Dream will prove essential reading.' Wall Street Journal 'A lively work ... particularly strong on the role that Chinese-backed infrastructure development will play in fulfilling [China's regional] ambition.' Financial Times 'Superbly organised ... Miller deftly combines the plethora of data points and statistics with vivid local colour.' South China Morning Post 'A must read for those interested in whether President Xi's reincarnated "Silk Road" will succeed in restoring the grandeur of the Middle Kingdom.' Yukon Huang, former World Bank Director for China 'One of the best accounts we have of what China's rise really means for the world.' Hugh White, author of The China Choice 'A uniquely well informed view of the opportunities, and the huge risks, of China's bold ambitions in the region.' Kerry Brown, author of China and the New Maoists 'An indispensable guide... brimming with telling insights and arresting stories, China's Asian Dream really hits the ball out of the park.' James Kynge, Emerging Markets Editor for The Financial Times 'Tom Miller tackles the central question of our time: whether China can translate its economic power into geopolitical clout, and execute its breath taking plan to dominate its Asian neighbours.' Richard McGregor, author of The Party: The Secret World of China's Communist Rulers 'Excellent ... Tom Miller has voyaged around China's periphery [and] his long experience of analysing the Chinese economy enables him to puncture a few over-inflated myths.' Bill Hayton, author of South China Sea: The Struggle for Power in Asia '[A] vivid and useful guide to China's unfolding strategy and its economic and diplomatic ramifications.' ChinaDialogue 'A terrific combination of data and pavement-pounding local investigation, with discussions between academics, market traders and officials from Laos to India.' Hong Kong Review of Books 'One of the best researched volumes on Chinese President Xi Jinping's driving vision, his 'dream' to return his country to the dominant position it had held in Asia since ancient times.' William R. Hawkins, Selous Foundation for Public Policy Research