China Belt and Road spending dips in first half

• Total financing and investment at US $ 28.4bn over period, down from US $ 29.6bn a year earlier
• Saudi Arabia was the biggest recipient with about US $ 5.5bn
• Investments in Russia, Egypt and Sri Lanka fall to zero

REUTERS: China’s finance and investment spending in Belt and Road countries fell slightly in the first half compared to a year earlier, with no new coal projects and investments in Russia, Egypt and Sri Lanka falling to zero, new research showed.

Saudi Arabia was the biggest recipient of Chinese investments over the period, with about US $ 5.5 billion, according to the Shanghai-based Green Finance and Development Centre (GFDC) in research published on Sunday.

Total financing and investment stood at US $ 28.4 billion over the period, down from US $ 29.6 billion a year earlier, bringing total cumulative Belt and Road spending to US $ 932 billion since 2013, the GFDC said.
President Xi Jinping launched the Belt and Road Initiative in 2013 aiming to harness China’s strengths in financing and infrastructure construction to “build a broad community of shared interests” throughout Asia, Africa and 
Latin America.

But it has come under scrutiny for the debt burden it places on countries and other issues such as environmental degradation. Some countries have also renegotiated their investment projects with China, highlighting the debt risks.

No new coal projects received Chinese support over the period after a pledge made at the United Nations General Assembly by Xi last September to put an end to overseas coal financing.

However, a Chinese developer won a bid to build a thermal power plant in Indonesia in February, and there are still 11.2 gigawatts of capacity that have already secured financing though are yet to begin construction, according to the GFDC, part of Shanghai’s Fudan University.

China has continued to provide support to other fossil fuel projects in the Belt and Road countries, with oil and gas amounting to around 80 percent of China’s overseas energy investments and 66 percent of its construction contracts, the GFDC said.

Engagements in gas projects stood at US $ 6.7 billion in the first half, compared with US $ 9.5 billion over the whole of last year, it said.

Green energy and hydropower transactions fell 22 percent from a year earlier. Investment rose to US $ 1.4 billion from US $ 400 million but green energy-related construction spending fell to US $ 1.6 billion, less than half the level a year earlier