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Coronavirus puts a bump in China’s belt and road investment plan
- Major projects under Beijing’s multibillion-dollar infrastructure development scheme held up as Chinese workers face obstacles getting back into Pakistan, Bangladesh
- But deadly virus unlikely to derail China’s connectivity ambitions, as host nations need its money too much, observers say
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China’s ambitious trade and infrastructure development plan could be the latest victim of the deadly coronavirus outbreak that is spreading from China to the rest of the world.
Since the contagion was first reported at the end of last year, many countries have imposed entry restrictions on Chinese visitors, including several that are hosting mega projects being built under Beijing’s multibillion-dollar Belt and Road Initiative.
On Wednesday, Bangladesh-China Power, the joint venture company behind a US$2.5 billion power plant under development near the port of Payra – about 320km (200 miles) due south of Dhaka – said the commissioning of the project had been delayed because the Chinese workers who had gone home for the Lunar New Year holiday had been unable to re-enter Bangladesh.
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Acting managing director Khurshedul Alam said it was unclear when the work, which was planned for this week, would now be carried out.
“We can’t do the post-test-run maintenance as some workers are stuck in China in the wake of the coronavirus epidemic,” he was quoted as saying in a report by Bangladeshi newspaper The Business Standard.
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He said he hoped operations at the 1,320 megawatt plant – where about half the 6,000 workers are Chinese – would get back to normal later this month.
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