The Chinese government has promoted the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) for more than five years since it was formally announced in the end of 2013. During its first five years, the BRI has not only achieved much but has also aroused a lot of controversy. To settle the debates between those who think the BRI will bring positive impacts to participating states and those who think the opposite, this article analyzes the progress and evaluates the influence of the BRI's first five years of implementation, including the amounts, items, disputes, and the political and economic influence of the BRI investments in the participating states. Empirical evidence demonstrates that although country-specific impacts do exist, generally speaking, the BRI does not significantly align foreign policy interests between China and the participating states, does not significantly hurt the freedom of the participating states, and that there is no significant risk of participating states falling into a debt trap.