As questions are raised about ‘belt and road’, projects slow in Southeast Asia
- China’s investments in the region plunged by nearly half in 2018, to lowest level in four years
- Asean member nations scrutinise Beijing’s strategy, though they still seek investment
China is reshaping the approach of its flagship “Belt and Road Initiative” in Southeast Asia, as Chinese projects in the region plunged last year amid growing global scrutiny of Beijing’s development strategy.
The value of newly announced big-ticket deals in the region – investment commitments and construction contracts worth more than US$100 million – dropped 49.7 per cent in 2018 to US$19.2 billion, its lowest in four years, according to analysis by Citi Economics, using data amassed by the US think tank American Enterprise Institute.
For the 10 members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean), new Chinese megaprojects slowed considerably in the second half of last year with only 12 recorded projects worth US$3.9 billion, down from 33 projects worth US$22 billion in the corresponding period 12 months earlier.
The value of those projects in Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines and Singapore in the second half of 2018 was only a quarter of the full value in 2017, while no projects were logged in Thailand or Vietnam.
Despite the slump, analysts said China’s initiative in the region would be “reshaped but not redundant”, as the infrastructure heavy programme both aligned with the region’s development initiatives and was key to Beijing’s geostrategic aims.