China slows down spending on Belt and Road energy projects
Investment fell by 28 per cent last year following government crackdown on capital outflows
China’s thirst for overseas energy investments is declining, at least by one tally.
The nation’s financing for Belt and Road Initiative energy projects dropped 28 per cent to US$14.3 billion last year from US$19.9 billion, according to data released Monday by Boston University’s Global Development Policy Centre.
Spending last year included investments in gas pipelines in Malaysia, coal power plants in the Pakistani desert and an oil terminal in Bangladesh.
China has invested about US$128 billion in energy projects in Belt and Road countries since 2001, according to Boston University’s research, which tracks finance data from the country’s two policy banks, the China Development Bank and the Export-Import Bank of China.
The slowdown in spending last year came as the government cracked down on capital outflows, scrutinising companies from HNA Group to Anbang Insurance Group that expanded rapidly overseas.
“In late 2016 and early 2017 China suffered a rush of capital outflows due to a mix of premature capital account liberalisation and external conditions,” Kevin Gallagher, professor of Global Development Policy at Boston University, said by email. “This led to some fairly tight restriction on capital flows that slowed things down a bit across the board.”