At present, many international organizations and scholars, who are aimed to compare and assess country-specific economy or competitiveness, have set different standards and indicators and tried to assess the economic strength of individual country. But most of these standards and indicators are for the assessment of individual aspects and what is worse, they are not suitable for the real situation of the countries concerned. This paper deals with methodological issues on the assessment of state economic strength. To this end, authors investigate the preceding studies on the assessment of economy of a given country, conceptualize the state economic strength, set a new system of indicators for assessing it and on this basis, produce a methodology for the synthetic assessment of state economic strength. The findings are that state economic strength must be defined in a view of economic capability which any country can exhibit by itself even under uncertain external environment, the indicators for assessing it include a variety of indicators in line with its essence, and assessment methodology must be synthetic one based on considering the weights of indicators. These findings may help, on the one hand, in assessing the economy of a given country and taking an economic and technical measures for its strengthening for policymakers, and on the other hand, in comparing and assessing the country-specific economy for organizations or scholars in a new perspective.

Purpose: This paper discusses the impact of transport infrastructure on employment in the Chinese inland provinces directly affecting by the “One Belt, One Road” initiative. Methods: The authors analyzed the impact of railways and highways- two key elements of transport infrastructure on employment in five Chinese inland provinces directly affected by the “One Belt, One Road” initiative. The data was collected from the National Bureau of Statistics of China and some databases related to “One Belt, One Road” for the period of 2008-2017. Descriptive statistics and graphic description approaches were used to analyze the data. Results: The findings show that there are unclear relationships between transport infrastructure and employment in the inland provinces under study as affected by “One Belt, One Road”.  Implications: Improvement of transport infrastructure as well as other relevant factors in creating jobs should be considered for generating employment in the provinces under study.

This paper discusses the impact of transport infrastructure on trades in the Chinese provinces directly affecting by "One Belt, One Road" initiative. That is why infrastructure is of significance in "One Belt, One Road" initiative and one of important purpose for initiative is to promote the unimpeded trade in China. In this paper, authors analyzed the impact of railways and highways which are the key elements of transport infrastructure on total value of exports and imports in the Chinese inland provinces directly affecting by "One Belt, One Road" and correlations between individual elements of transport infrastructure based on data from National Bureau of Statistics of China and from some articles related to "One Belt, One Road" and correlation and regression analysis methods. The conclusion is that railways, highways, and port have strong correlation with Gross Regional Products, and effects of elements of transport infrastructure are different among inland provinces affected by "One Belt, One Road" and this needs rational management of transport infrastructure in promoting trade according to provinces.

Purpose: This paper analyzes the impact of transport infrastructure on Gross Regional Products in Chinese provinces under the “Belt and Road Initiative”. Methods: The impact of the key elements of transport infrastructure on Gross Regional Products is analyzed based on the data related to development levels of transport infrastructure and economic development. Correlation and regression analyses were used for data analysis. Results: It is found that railways and highways, which are the key elements of transport infrastructure, have a strong correlation with Gross Regional Products, and their effects are diverse among provinces under study. Implications: The findings demonstrate the position and role of diverse infrastructural elements in enhancing the economic benefits of infrastructural investment and promoting economic growth. Thus, it is expected to facilitate decision-making related to infrastructural investment under the “Belt and Road Initiative”.

Purpose: This paper discusses the impact of transport infrastructure on living standards in the Chinese provinces directly affected by the “One Belt, One Road” initiative. Methods: The impact of transport infrastructures such as railways and highways on people’s living standards, more specifically, the household consumption level in the Chinese provinces directly affected by the "One Belt, One Road" was analyzed based on data from 2008 to 2017 from National Bureau of Statistics of China and some databases related to the "One Belt, One Road". Descriptive statistics, correlation, and regression were applied for analysis. Results: a)The living standards are not improved in proportion to the development level of railways and highways due to influences of various factors on living standards, b) the development level of transport infrastructure does not have enough impact on reducing the gap in living standards between urban and rural areas in the Chinese provinces under study, c) the development level of transport infrastructure has a relatively more significant impact on living standards in coastal provinces than inland provinces under study, and d) in the future, the measures to develop the transport infrastructure may provably contribute to achieving targets for enhancing the living standards under the realization of the “One Belt, One Road” initiative. Implications: To enhance the living standard, the management of investment in transport infrastructure as well as other factors, such as employment, income distribution, supply of goods and services, price level, etc. affecting people’s living standard ought to be improved in line with the features of a given region.