China’s Belt and Road Initiative to pursue ‘small but beautiful’ projects as strategy turns 10
- Big infrastructure projects have been the hallmark of the Belt and Road Initiative over the past decade, but they have often come with economic and political risk
- Analysts say that smaller, less treacherous projects are likely to dominate in the years ahead, including in the digital, healthcare and environmental spaces
China is likely to work on smaller, less risky and more profitable trade-linked infrastructure projects overseas in the coming years after a number of larger ones under the Belt and Road Initiative encountered financial problems that drew international attention, analysts say.
“That would line up with China’s focus on a more sustainable approach to the Belt and Road Initiative, particularly right now as Beijing confronts worsening credit and debt distress across a range of partners,” said Nick Marro, lead analyst with the Economist Intelligence Unit forecasting and advisory service.
“Less financially risky and more economically friendly would likely tick some of the boxes here.”
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The Communist Party-run People’s Daily said last month a series of “small but beautiful” projects had “landed one after another” in agriculture, healthcare and poverty reduction.