China’s Belt and Road Initiative regains momentum as focus shifts to smaller ‘high-quality’ projects
- The value of deals signed in the first half of the year passed US$43 billion, with metals and mining seeing strong growth
- China is moving away from the large-scale construction projects that characterised the early years of the scheme, which is now in its 10th year
The initiative, which marks its 10th anniversary this year, appears to have regained momentum after the Covid-19 pandemic slowed down activity for three years.
A total of 103 deals worth US$43.3 billion were signed in the first six months of this year compared with US$35 billion in the same period in 2022, according to a report by Fudan University’s Green Finance and Development Centre.
The average value of the deals dropped from US$617 million last year to US$392 million this year, meaning the average was almost half that from the peak in 2018.
China has been moving away from the giant infrastructure projects that rapidly expanded in the first five years of the initiative, with senior officials saying they want to focus on “high-quality” and “small but beautiful” deals. The average amount of financing for construction projects hit a low of US$327 million.
The metals and mining sector saw the largest rise in engagement, with investments and construction in the sector rising from an estimated US$6.8 billion last year to US$10.5 billion this year.
