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Belt and Road: Background

Belt and Road: Background
The initiative spearheaded by the Chinese government and endorsed by President Xi Jinping in late 2013 aims to improve trade and economic integration across Asia, Europe, and Africa.
A container is unloaded onto a truck at a port in Kenya. The expansion of the port and a connecting railway was undertaken with Chinese support. Photo: Xinhua
China trade

Explainer | From railways to Labubus: how China Inc. went on a 50-year trip abroad

Chinese companies have steadily expanded their global reach over the past half-century, but it has been a winding, often turbulent journey.

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China-Russia relations

China and Russia supercharge trade with record US$25 billion grain order

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Belt and Road Initiative

Opinion | China steps up climate fight with belt and road green finance partnership

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Belt and Road Initiative

Opinion | Western bias against China’s belt and road is hobbling climate action

As a green tech powerhouse, China can accelerate the Global South’s digital transition and foster a more sustainable model of economic growth. But the West remains obsessed with China’s perceived threat.

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Vehicles transporting Chinese components to Kazakhstan for a 50MW wind power project are seen on the Guozigou Bridge in Huocheng County, in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, on April 24, 2020. Kazakhstan is a key part of China’s Belt and Road Initiative. Photo: Xinhua
Belt and Road Initiative

Opinion | West’s attacks on China’s belt and road are futile

China’s infrastructure initiative has attracted criticism and inspired a cacophony of competing plans, including the G20’s economic corridor but fundamental needs are getting lost in the rush to conjure up new visions.

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Asean

Cambodia’s Hun Sen wants ‘back in Beijing’s orbit’ amid US balancing act

Besides seeking financial support for high-speed rail projects, Hun Sen’s three-day visit to China is aimed at easing China’s concerns about Cambodia’s growing ties with the United States, experts said.

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Xi Jinping

Explainer | What’s at stake during Xi Jinping’s first trip overseas since the pandemic began?

The world has changed significantly since China’s president last travelled overseas, and his trip will be closely watched for signals about China’s next moves.

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Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin meet at the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Summit in Qingdao on June 10, 2018. Xi is using his first trip abroad since the start of the pandemic to promote China’s strategic ambitions at this year’s summit of the Central Asian security group. Photo: AP
Bangladesh

Bangladesh opens 6.5km longest bridge – built by Chinese engineering firm

The China Major Bridge Engineering Company Ltd built the structure, said to later feature a rail network connecting to Belt and Road projects.

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Belt and Road Initiative

Opinion | Belt and road: the face of Chinese foreign policy won’t so easily die

The belt and road was not meant to be a single large infrastructure project. Rather, it provides the great machine of China’s external-facing apparatus with a new driving vision.

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Belt and Road Initiative

Opinion | Why China is most at risk of a belt and road debt trap

Partner countries have started to seek to renegotiate terms after projects start, meaning China may have to offer more concessions, even as instability threatens the projects. Beijing could end up becoming hostage to the massive loans it is giving out.

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The Lotus Tower in Colombo, Sri Lanka, is set to be completed later this year under China’s Belt and Road Initiative. Sri Lanka has denied all claims that it is a victim of debt-trap diplomacy. Ironically, China could turn out to be the biggest debt trap victim of all. Photo: Xinhua
Belt and Road: 2019 Forum

Why China’s belt and road loans may not be the feared debt trap

Study by US-based Rhodium Group finds only one confirmed case of asset seizure and says Beijing is more likely to renegotiate burdensome debts.

A Chinese-built railway line in Ethiopia. Last week the east African country said China had agreed to write off interest owed on loans. Photo: Xinhua
Belt and Road: 2019 Forum

China will not devalue yuan, Xi tells world leaders

Beijing is seeking to resolve growing concerns about its global infrastructure push as 37 world leaders gather at the second Belt and Road Forum in Beijing.

Belt and Road Initiative

Beijing publishes standard for assessing belt and road debt risks

Document is based on similar measures used by the World Bank and International Monetary Fund, Finance Minister Liu Kun says.

Belt and Road: 2019 Forum

From new faces to new funds, what has changed in the belt and road show?

It has been two years since Beijing hosted a forum for the participants and supporters of its global trade plan, and there have been some developments in the state of play.

The second Belt and Road Forum gets under way in Beijing in Thursday. Photo: Xinhua
Belt and Road: 2019 Forum

Exclusive | Is China’s blueprint for global development a belt and road to ruin?

Beijing’s global infrastructure drive will be in the spotlight this week when dozens of heads of state converge on the Chinese capital for the second Belt and Road Forum.

What might be the real purpose of the ‘Belt and Road Initiative’? Illustration: Lau Ka-kuen
China economy

Belt and road ‘to boost global trade – even for countries that reject it’

Insurer Euler Hermes estimates China’s plan to grow global trade has seen US$460 billion worth of investments in the five years since its inception in 2013.

Lessons from China's history

Reflections | The surprisingly brief existence of the ancient Silk Road

The exchange of goods and capital across international borders is not a new phenomenon, but it has never been without complications, whether in the ancient or modern world.

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China economy

China’s top export financing bank to help firms hit hard by trade war

The head of the state-owned policy bank says it will team up with other government agencies to increase support to exporters affected by the trade war.

The Export-Import Bank of China says it will boost lending to small companies as the trade war with US cuts export orders and rising costs erode profitability. Photo: Imaginechina
Chinese history

3D images give Silk Road’s Dunhuang cave art new life

Exhibition ‘Digital Dunhuang – Tales of Heaven and Earth’ at Hong Kong Heritage Museum brings famous Mogao cave art to life, and allows public to appreciate murals from caves where visits are highly restricted.

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Belt and Road Initiative

Chinese firms find Belt and Road projects worth the risk

State-owned enterprises such as China Communications Construction Company, involved in the US$11b East Coast Rail Link project in Malaysia, expects overseas projects to account for 50 per cent of its business eventually

Belt and Road Initiative

Five things to watch as China’s belt and road plan unfolds

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A media centre for the belt and road forum in Beijing. Photo: Bloomberg
Belt and Road Initiative

India, Russia tipped to win big from ‘Belt and Road’ investment

China could invest between US$84 billion and US$126 billion in India as part of the Belt and Road Initiative over the next five years, according to one estimate. Photo: AFP
Belt and Road Initiative

Are ‘Belt and Road’ videos China’s bid to win over young Westerners?

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Belt and Road Initiative

Cash crunch on China’s new Silk Road

Belt and Road Initiative

Who will pay for China’s new Silk Road?

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Beijing is backing a host of financial institutions to help fund its ambitious “Belt and Road Initiative”
Belt and Road Initiative

Centrepieces and setbacks along the new Silk Road

A freight train laden with goods from London arrives at Yiwu railway port station in China. Photo: AFP
Belt and Road Initiative

Why China’s trump card in global diplomacy is fraught with peril

Belt and Road Initiative

Who’s who in China’s ‘Belt and Road Initiative’?

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