TOPIC

Infrastructure in Asia

Infrastructure in Asia
The politics and economics behind Asia's big-ticket infrastructure projects.
Twenty-metre-deep sinkhole in South Korea kills motorcyclist
South Korea

Video | Giant sinkhole in Seoul kills motorcyclist

The body of the motorcyclist was found 17 hours after his vehicle was swallowed by the sinkhole in the eastern part of the capital, Seoul

China trade

China lays track for stronger regional relations through railway lines

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Two Sessions 2025

‘Two sessions’ 2025: how can China get its private sector back on track?

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Vietnam

Vietnam’s US$8 billion railway to China gets the go ahead

It is one of two railway lines to China that Vietnam plans as part of its ‘Two Corridors, One Belt’ initiative.

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A Vietnamese man walks with his bicycle along a railway track in Hanoi last week. Photo: AFP
India

Should India be worried about Sri Lanka and China’s growing cooperation?

The new deals ‘signal a deepening of China’s influence in Sri Lanka’ and revive concerns of a debt trap, analysts say.

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Malaysia

My Take | Can Johor-Singapore SEZ be a flag-bearer for Southeast Asia’s economic clout?

The SEZ aims to tap new growth areas alongside priority industries to make it the region of choice for businesses, but challenges remain.

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Banking & finance

Macroscope | Rising ‘United States of Eurasia’ will need a development bank to support it

From Eurasia’s vast potential to growing new development banks, emerging market economies are carrying more weight in a global economy.

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The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) ninth annual conference in Samarkand, Uzbekistan. Photo: AIIB
China economy

Opinion | China’s Dalian airport will be more than an infrastructure marvel

This would-be world’s biggest offshore airport marries China’s aim to revitalise its northeastern belt with its ambition to bolster its global influence in aviation, trade and logistics.

Infrastructure

Video | China has built the world’s longest expressway tunnel

Climate change

Opinion | Asia must not let its appetite for sand consume its rivers and seas

The environmental consequences of sand mining are immense. Across Asia, rivers are shrinking, coastlines eroding and ecosystems unravelling.

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Ferries sail along the Mekong River at dawn in Phnom Penh on August 13. The river has become a hotspot for sand mining. Photo: AFP
Xinjiang

Chinese tunnel crews punch through mountains for Xinjiang expressway project

The Tianshan Shengli Tunnel is expected to be the longest of its kind and help link the region with neighbouring countries.

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Workers drive a construction vehicle out of the Tianshan Shengli Tunnel on Monday. Photo: Xinhua
China's economic recovery

China’s infrastructure spending may surge in 2025 to meet 5-year goals

With construction seen as vital to stabilising the national economy, authorities emphasise that there is still a lot of room to increase fiscal spending.

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Belt and Road Initiative

How a new railway will extend China’s reach into Central Asia

The 523km line linking China, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan could eventually be extended to the Middle East, South Asia and Europe.

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Vietnam

Vietnam to build US$67 billion high-speed railway

The railway will run from Hanoi in the north to Ho Chi Minh City in the south, in a boost to infrastructure expected to drive investment.

A railway worker holds a flag to signal safety for a passenger train passing through a railway crossing in Hanoi. Photo: AFP
China’s military drills

China and Pakistan talk security as they target terrorism against belt and road

Top Chinese military official meets Pakistani counterpart in wake of attacks against Chinese interests in the South Asian country.

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Zhang Youxia (left), vice-chairman of China’s Central Military Commission, meets his Pakistani counterpart Syed Asim Munir during a visit to Pakistan this week. Photo: Handout
China-Asean relations

China leveraging Laos to link up its Southeast Asian economic interests

Premier Li Qiang visited Laos earlier this month, with the relatively undeveloped and small Southeast Asia nation seen as key to China’s plans in the region.

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Asean

Opinion | As AI takes the world by storm, Asia stands to benefit

Amid rising demand for AI and cybersecurity, Southeast Asia’s lower costs, renewable energy and political neutrality are proving attractive.

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Belt and Road Initiative

Opinion | As attacks on Chinese workers in Pakistan grow, how will Beijing respond?

In the wake of deadly attacks on Chinese nationals in Pakistan, Beijing looks likely to get more directly involved in counterterrorism.

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Security officials inspect the scene of a blast outside Jinnah International Airport in Karachi, Pakistan, on October 7. Photo: EPA-EFE
Indonesia

Widodo’s decade in power leaves an Indonesia transformed – but concerned

While Jokowi’s presidency brought growth and modernisation, his last-minute political manoeuvring raised fears of democratic backsliding.

Cambodia

Video | Cambodia-Vietnam ties strained by new China-backed canal

Belt and Road Initiative

Editorial | Pakistan killings send China a grim reminder

Real life-and-death threats face those who work in high-risk areas and authorities must attempt to contain violence.

Pakistani security officials on Monday inspect the scene of the blast outside the Jinnah international airport in Karachi. Photo: EPA-EFE
India

Will Mumbai’s US$6.9 billion roads plan fix gridlock in India’s finance hub?

The ambitious “Mumbai in Minutes” initiative promises faster commutes, but experts warn of land acquisition and environmental hurdles.

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Construction work on a coastal road in Mumbai, India, in March. Photo: Reuters
Banking & finance

VP of China-based AIIB says bank has proven doubters ‘100% wrong’

With 110 member states and years of experience, AIIB vice-president says Beijing-based development bank a model for multilateralism.

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China-Asean relations

Why China’s belt and road push could give it an edge in Southeast Asia

Infrastructure projects such as high-speed rail could help Beijing keep US from coaxing region into its orbit, analysts say.

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Indonesia

Indonesia bags first foreign investment for Nusantara from Chinese developer

Analysts say ‘relatively small’ investment may be new strategy to secure more modest funding, attract expansion opportunities across Indonesia.

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Garuda Palace, the future Presidential Palace, and ministerial offices under construction in the new capital city of Nusantara, in August. Photo: Reuters
China's economic recovery

Exclusive | With major waterway plans in the pipeline, is China in its ‘grand canal era’?

Local governments seeking economy-boosting infrastructure projects are pitching costly waterways, ushering in a ‘grand canal era’ and raising eyebrows.

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Illustration: Brian Wang
Belt and Road Initiative

Explainer | What, where, how: the next 10 years of China’s evolving Belt and Road Initiative

With focus of global trade plan shifting, gone may be the days when huge infrastructure projects left partner countries holding a big bill and facing environmental implications.

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Thailand

Is Thai mega project a land bridge too far for ‘desperate’ government?

Analysts warn the project could become another white elephant, with funding, long-term viability and possible corruption among serious concerns.

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