In September and October 2013, Chinese President Xi Jinping proposed building the "Silk Road Economic Belt" and the "21st Century Maritime Silk Road" during his visits to Central and Southeast Asian countries. The text then states that the Belt and Road Initiative refers to these two components, and that the maritime route runs from China’s coastal ports through the South China Sea to the Indian Ocean and onward to Europe, or to the South Pacific.

The document states that when President Xi Jinping visited Central Asia and Southeast Asia in 2013, "he raised the initiative of jointly building the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st-Century Maritime Silk Road (hereinafter referred to as the Belt and Road)." It further clarifies that the Chinese government drafted and published the "Vision and Actions on Jointly Building Silk Road Economic Belt and 21st-Century Maritime Silk Road" to promote implementation of the initiative. This official text therefore defines the Belt and Road as consisting of these two named components.

The MFA’s English presentation of the same policy paper explains that President Xi in 2013 "raised the initiative of jointly building the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st-Century Maritime Silk Road (hereinafter referred to as the Belt and Road)." It describes this as one "systematic project" and consistently treats the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st-Century Maritime Silk Road together as the Belt and Road Initiative.

The report describes the Belt and Road concept as having two parts: the Silk Road Economic Belt, which is mainly overland, and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, which is mainly maritime. It states that the land component starts from China and runs through Central Asia toward Europe, while the sea component starts from China’s southeastern coastal ports and extends through the South China Sea, the Indian Ocean, and beyond.

The document says that on March 28, 2015, the National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the Ministry of Commerce jointly issued "The Vision and Actions on Jointly Building Silk Road Economic Belt and 21st-Century Maritime Silk Road." It also says that Xi Jinping first proposed building the "Silk Road Economic Belt" and the "21st Century Maritime Silk Road" in 2013.

The page states that the "Silk Road Economic Belt" has three major routes, and that the "21st Century Maritime Silk Road" was proposed by Xi Jinping in his October 3, 2013 speech in Indonesia. It explicitly says that the "Silk Road Economic Belt" and the "21st Century Maritime Silk Road" are abbreviated together as the Belt and Road Initiative.

This report says the initiative contains two parts: the 'Silk Road Economic Belt' from China through Central Asia to Europe, and the '21st Century Maritime Silk Road' linking China by sea with Southeast Asia, the Middle East, and Africa. It presents these as the initiative’s two main components.

In a 2013 speech in Kazakhstan, Xi Jinping proposed “to build a **Silk Road Economic Belt**” as a framework of overland cooperation stretching from the Pacific Ocean to the Baltic Sea. The speech frames this as a land‑based economic belt across Eurasia, reviving the ancient Silk Road trade routes by land.

An official English-language publication states that the Belt and Road Initiative “**comprises the land‑based Silk Road Economic Belt and the ocean‑going 21st Century Maritime Silk Road**.” It further notes that the Silk Road Economic Belt focuses on connectivity “on the Eurasian continent,” while the Maritime Silk Road focuses on “sea routes linking Asia with Africa and Europe.”

China’s top planning agency released the Vision and Actions document which states that China will “jointly build the **Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road**,” describing them collectively as the “Belt and Road.” It explains that the Belt aims at land‑based connectivity across Eurasia, while the Road focuses on maritime cooperation along key sea lanes.

CFR’s backgrounder notes that Xi Jinping "announced the initiative in 2013, saying that it was aimed at enhancing regional connectivity and embracing a brighter future." It explains that "the plan was two-pronged: the overland Silk Road Economic Belt and the Maritime Silk Road" and that "the two were collectively referred to first as the One Belt, One Road initiative, and later as the Belt and Road Initiative." This description explicitly identifies the overland belt and the maritime road as the two components of BRI.

The paper states that the core of the initiative is strengthening connectivity between two major routes: the overland route and the maritime route. It says the overland route focuses on energy and transport infrastructure, while the maritime route focuses on ports and new trade routes.

SIPRI’s executive summary explains that "The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), previously known as One Belt, One Road, has two main components: the Silk Road Economic Belt (the Belt) and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road (the Road)." It further notes that "the Road, alongside the Silk Road Economic Belt (the Belt), will boost China’s connectivity with the rest of the world." This frames BRI as comprising these two elements, with the belt over land and the road via sea.

“The **Belt and Road Initiative refers to the Silk Road Economic Belt and 21st Century Maritime Silk Road**, a significant development strategy launched by the Chinese government with the intention of promoting economic co-operation among countries along the proposed Belt and Road routes.” The page explains that these are “the proposed Belt (overland) and Road (maritime) routes” connecting Asia, Europe, and Africa.

Chatham House describes the BRI as “an ambitious plan to develop **two new trade routes** connecting China with the rest of the world.” It notes: “The **Silk Road Economic ‘Belt’ element refers to… overland trading routes** connecting Europe and Asia… In 2014 Xi Jinping outlined plans to additionally establish new sea trade infrastructure… – a **maritime silk road** connecting China, Southeast Asia, Africa, and Europe.”

The page states that the Belt and Road Initiative is composed of two parts: the Silk Road Economic Belt, meaning the land transport route, and the Maritime Silk Road, meaning the sea transport route. It explicitly describes the Silk Road Economic Belt as an overland transport route and the Maritime Silk Road as a sea transport route.

The text says Xi Jinping proposed building the "Silk Road Economic Belt" and the "21st Century Maritime Silk Road" in 2013, and that the 2015 joint document was issued by the NDRC, Foreign Ministry, and Commerce Ministry. It also states that the initiative aims to connect Eurasia and Africa through land and sea interconnection.

An OECD report states that the Belt and Road Initiative “is made up of two main components: the **Silk Road Economic Belt**, a series of overland corridors, and the **21st Century Maritime Silk Road**, a network of maritime routes.” It clarifies that together these land and sea routes are commonly referred to as the Belt and Road.

The full text says that the Belt and Road Initiative is the major initiative first proposed by Xi Jinping in 2013, consisting of the "Silk Road Economic Belt" and the "21st Century Maritime Silk Road." It further describes the maritime route as running from China’s coastal ports through the South China Sea to the Indian Ocean and onward to Europe or the South Pacific.

A Harvard-affiliated analysis states: "As already mentioned, the BRI is the combination of the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road." It explains that the Silk Road Economic Belt "focuses on linking China to Europe through Central Asia" while the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road "seeks to connect China to Southeast Asia, South Asia, Africa and Europe via sea routes." The article therefore characterizes BRI as having both an overland belt and a maritime road.

The report notes that in 2013 Xi Jinping announced the **Silk Road Economic Belt** and “subsequently expanded the program to include the **Maritime Silk Road** in February 2014.” It adds: “Commonly referred to in English as the **Belt and Road Initiative**, the program aims to… the so‑called belt—the **land route** starting in western China… as well as to the so‑called **road: the maritime route** around Southeast Asia, the Persian Gulf, and the Horn of Africa.”

The encyclopaedia entry notes that the BRI "is composed of the Silk Road Economic Belt (SREB) and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road (MSR)." It further describes the Silk Road Economic Belt as focusing on "six overland economic corridors" and refers to the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road as the "sea route" component. This widely cited summary reflects the common understanding of BRI as having overland and maritime parts.

The article explains that the '21st Century Maritime Silk Road' is the 'maritime' component of the Belt and Road Initiative and that it was proposed by President Xi Jinping during his visit to Indonesia. It says the route is intended to strengthen sea links and promote economic and infrastructure cooperation with Southeast Asia, South Asia, the Middle East, North Africa, and Europe.

This specialist advisory site states that the BRI "comprises two major component parts: the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road." It explains that "the former refers to an overland route through the Eurasian land mass while the latter refers to a sea route extending through the East and South China Seas, Indian Ocean and up through the Suez Canal into the Mediterranean Sea." The description directly aligns the two components with overland and maritime routes.

MERICS describes the BRI’s “initial target regions along historic **land and maritime routes between China and Europe**.” It notes that the initiative builds on the concepts of a **Silk Road Economic Belt** crossing the Eurasian landmass and a **Maritime Silk Road** through critical sea lanes to Europe and Africa.

This academic paper on China–ASEAN relations states: "To construct the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road is an important part of the grand Belt and Road Initiative proposed by the Chinese government." It discusses how the Maritime Silk Road "is designed to strengthen connectivity" between China and ASEAN states by sea, positioning it as the maritime component within the broader Belt and Road framework.

An academic article archived on JSTOR notes that "The Chinese government, in 2013, initiated the concept of the 'Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road' (hereinafter referred to as the Belt and Road Initiative)." It treats these two named projects together as the Belt and Road concept introduced by China in 2013.

In standard English usage, the Belt and Road Initiative is commonly explained as having two main parts: the overland Silk Road Economic Belt and the maritime 21st Century Maritime Silk Road. This is consistent with the official Chinese formulation used in 2015 policy documents.

The article states that the Belt and Road Initiative is the Chinese government's transnational economic corridor initiated in 2013, with the full Chinese name "Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st-century Maritime Silk Road." It describes the initiative as composed of overland and maritime components.

The page says Belt and Road infrastructure aims to optimize both land and sea connections, explicitly referring to overland transport by road and rail and maritime transport by sea.

The page states that the Belt and Road Initiative, proposed by Xi Jinping in 2013, became a major Chinese economic strategy and is known as the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).

The video states that the Belt and Road Initiative is made up of the 'Silk Road Economic Belt' and the '21st Century Maritime Silk Road.' It also describes the Belt as mainly overland routes and the Road as mainly sea routes.