#beltandroadinitiative — Public Fediverse posts
Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #beltandroadinitiative, aggregated by home.social.
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@matdevdug Funneling as much #Capitalism profit, among #VitalInfrastructure, has become more of a collapsing cause instead of a bridge to a more #sustainable shift to #DemocraticSocialism.
Capitalism has run its full cycle, as has #Communism. When more #RootInfrastructure is led by more #ethical #scientists, a more sustainable middle can be achieved.
There's an increasingly higher probability that the US will fail this spectacularly, so look for this to come more to fruition in the #GlobalSouth, as a byproduct of China's #BeltAndRoadInitiative, among #EmergingEconomies in #DevelopingCountries.
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@ModernMaslow @CountHoldem @EvoScale Working off of China's #BeltAndRoadInitiative in the #GlobalSouth, currently has merit. Some of the #EmergingEconomies in #DevelopingCountries are even targeted as long term #ClimateCrisis havens.
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@mike They're just trying to support China's #BeltAndRoadInitiative in the #GlobalSouth :bd24:
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@EUCommission I'm surprised the #TMSR track is incrementally gaining footing, and being fast tracked by China.
Hopefully their #BeltAndRoadInitiative can continue to introduce the burgeoning tech to the #GlobalSouth, at the very least.
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@da_667 I went to school with eventual billionaire lobbyists, who firmly believed Divide and Conquer Strategy scales, from smaller to larger cyclical effects. So when #TechBros and #FossilFuels #oligarchs get together to capitalize on destabilizing economies, via overextended #duopoly, and squeeze as much out of the masses as they can; we're heading to a virtual collapse
If you have children, seriously evaluate #EmergingEconomies in #DevelopingCountries. The #BeltAndRoadInitiative has been evolving the #GlobalSouth for years now, and those value spaces are more sustainable.
As an aside; look up #MilankovitchCycles. Along with #ClimateCrisis, the mechanics are there to further amplify said Divide and Conquer via #AbuseOfPower.
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https://www.europesays.com/africa/197643/ In jab at Taiwan, China ramps up military support for Somalia #AlShabaab #BeltAndRoadInitiative #Block3 #ChinaDjiboutiBase #ChinaInAfrica #ChinaSomalia #ChinaTaiwan #Ethiopia #IsraelSomaliland #OneChinaPrinciple #Somalia #SomalilandTaiwan #TheConversation
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Now this is worth watching. The birth of the petrogas-Dollar and the US's transition into a Pirate State. What the US's recent actions are really about: The control of oil and to stop China.
#RichardMedhurst | The Petrogas-Dollar: The Secret US Strategy Behind the Iran War
https://rumble.com/v78jbx2-the-petrogas-dollar-the-secret-us-strategy-behind-the-iran-war.html
#Iran #China #US #PetroDollar #PetrogasDollar #PirateState #Oil #Chevron #BeltAndRoadInitiative
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https://www.europesays.com/ie/439332/ China’s PBOC raises leverage ratios for foreign lenders to support outbound investment #Beijing #BeltAndRoadInitiative #Business #China #Economy #Éire #ExportImportBankOfChina #FudanUniversity #GaryNg #IE #Ireland #MinistryOfCommerce #Nomura #People'sBankOfChina #rmb #ShaoYu #USDollar #yuan
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China’s PBOC raises leverage ratios for foreign lenders to support outbound investment
Beijing has raised the limit on banks’ overseas lending – a move that analysts say will support Chinese…
#Economy #Beijing #beltandroadinitiative #centralbank #CentralBanks #China #Export-ImportBankofChina #FudanUniversity #GaryNg #MinistryofCommerce #Nomura #People'sBankofChina #RMB #ShaoYu #usdollar #yuan
https://www.europesays.com/2923938/ -
@urlyman Thorium Molten Salt Reactors, like China is having continued success with, provides high industrial level heat that's conducive to EV production. #TMSR also lends itself to #desalination, #SodiumIon batteries, #hydrogen and #ammonia production, medical isotopes, and even localized air conditioning because of high heat production in #MSR.
China's #BeltAndRoadInitiative is far more sustainable than most of the West's profit mongering.
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Everything the US is doing -- including it's involvement in the Ukraine -- is about stopping China, which is creating roads of commerce from across China and from the middle east directly to Europe, and which undermine US maritime dominance.
#ChrisHedges | Will There be a Ground Invasion of Iran? (w/ Col. Larry Wilkerson) | The Chris Hedges Report
https://chrishedges.substack.com/p/will-there-be-a-ground-invasion-of
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China’s multibillion-dollar minerals investment lifts foreign economies: report
China has committed more than US$120 billion in direct investment in overseas mining and mineral processing projects since…
#NewsBeep #News #Economy #BeltandRoadInitiative #Business #CA #Canada #China #CleanEnergy #ClimateEnergyFinance #Europe #Lithium #mining #outboundforeigndirectinvestment #Overseasinvestment #RareEarthMetals #UnitedStates #zeroemissions
https://www.newsbeep.com/ca/544275/ -
RE: https://mastodon.world/@UnderRadarNews/116102428386993379
#China is building infrastructure in #Kenya and other countries in #Africa with its *massive* #BeltAndRoad initiative.
#Russia is duping Kenyans into signing contracts to join the #meatwave getting slaughtered in its illegal and floundering invasion of #Ukraine.
If #Putin remains is power, soon China will have a #BeltAndRoadInitiative on *its* side of the #SinoFinnishBorder.
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RE: https://mastodon.world/@UnderRadarNews/116102428386993379
#China is building infrastructure in #Kenya and other countries in #Africa with its *massive* #BeltAndRoad initiative.
#Russia is duping Kenyans into signing contracts to join the #meatwave getting slaughtered in its illegal and floundering invasion of #Ukraine.
If #Putin remains is power, soon China will have a #BeltAndRoadInitiative on *its* side of the #SinoFinnishBorder.
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RE: https://mastodon.world/@UnderRadarNews/116102428386993379
#China is building infrastructure in #Kenya and other countries in #Africa with its *massive* #BeltAndRoad initiative.
#Russia is duping Kenyans into signing contracts to join the #meatwave getting slaughtered in its illegal and floundering invasion of #Ukraine.
If #Putin remains is power, soon China will have a #BeltAndRoadInitiative on *its* side of the #SinoFinnishBorder.
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RE: https://mastodon.world/@UnderRadarNews/116102428386993379
#China is building infrastructure in #Kenya and other countries in #Africa with its *massive* #BeltAndRoad initiative.
#Russia is duping Kenyans into signing contracts to join the #meatwave getting slaughtered in its illegal and floundering invasion of #Ukraine.
If #Putin remains is power, soon China will have a #BeltAndRoadInitiative on *its* side of the #SinoFinnishBorder.
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RE: https://mastodon.world/@UnderRadarNews/116102428386993379
#China is building infrastructure in #Kenya and other countries in #Africa with its *massive* #BeltAndRoad initiative.
#Russia is duping Kenyans into signing contracts to join the #meatwave getting slaughtered in its illegal and floundering invasion of #Ukraine.
If #Putin remains is power, soon China will have a #BeltAndRoadInitiative on *its* side of the #SinoFinnishBorder.
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India-Europe trade corridor gathers pace as Modi, Macron pledge port partnership
India and France have agreed to strengthen links between two of their largest ports and others, giving fresh…
#NewsBeep #News #Economy #AdaniPorts #beltandroadinitiative #Business #China #delhi #DonaldTrump #EmmanuelMacron #Europe #France #HaifaPort #IMEC #India #JebelAli #MarseilleFos #NarendraModi #UK #UnitedKingdom
https://www.newsbeep.com/uk/434865/ -
China signs record US$213 billion of new ‘belt and road’ deals in 2025: report
China’s ambitious Belt and Road Initiative gained further traction in 2025, with a record US$213.5 billion of new…
#Economy #África #artificialintelligence #beltandroadinitiative #BowayAlloy #business #CentralAsia #China #copper #Energy #fossilfuels #GriffithAsiaInstitute #kazakhstan #Lithiumbatteries #mining #Morocco #UStariffs #Vietnam
https://www.europesays.com/2715420/ -
https://www.alojapan.com/1429652/japan-is-back-in-central-asia-with-new-summit-on-ai-minerals-and-transport/ ‘Japan is back’ in Central Asia with new summit on AI, minerals and transport #BeltAndRoadInitiative #CaspianSea #CentralAsia #CentralAsiaPlusJapanDialogue #China #DonaldTrump #EuropeanUnion #FumioKishida #India #Japan #JapanNews #Japanese #JapaneseNews #Kazakhstan #Kyrgyzstan #news #Russia #SanaeTakaichi #SovietUnion #Tajikistan #Tokyo #TomohikoUyama #TransCaspianInternationalTransportRoute #Turkmenistan #USPresident #Uzbekistan #XiJinping J
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https://www.alojapan.com/1429652/japan-is-back-in-central-asia-with-new-summit-on-ai-minerals-and-transport/ ‘Japan is back’ in Central Asia with new summit on AI, minerals and transport #BeltAndRoadInitiative #CaspianSea #CentralAsia #CentralAsiaPlusJapanDialogue #China #DonaldTrump #EuropeanUnion #FumioKishida #India #Japan #JapanNews #Japanese #JapaneseNews #Kazakhstan #Kyrgyzstan #news #Russia #SanaeTakaichi #SovietUnion #Tajikistan #Tokyo #TomohikoUyama #TransCaspianInternationalTransportRoute #Turkmenistan #USPresident #Uzbekistan #XiJinping J
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Central Asia’s Rail Corridors: U.S. and Chinese Partnerships in Perspective
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At the SCO summit, India balanced engagement with China and Russia while maintaining its sovereignty and independence, signaling a cautious, pragmatic foreign policy amid rising U.S.-China tensions. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/commentary/2025/09/03/indias-diplomatic-dance/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #commentary #india #china #us #russia #donaldtrump #narendramodi #vladimirputin #xijinping #beltandroadinitiative
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China, Turkey should enhance security cooperation, Xi says | World News https://www.byteseu.com/1335971/ #5GTechnology #BeltAndRoadInitiative #Biomedicine #China #Cooperation #CounterTerrorism #EconomicTies #NewEnergy #SCOSummit #SecurityCooperation #StrategicPartnership #TayyipErdogan #Terrorism #Tianjin #Turkey #XiJinping
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Is BRICS the Way Forward?
https://consortiumnews.com/2025/07/11/is-brics-the-way-forward/
After witnessing Cuba’s ailing economy in a recent visit, Asoka Bandarage looks beyond BRICS for an alternative to both authoritarian socialism and neoliberal capitalism. By Asoka Bandarage I returned to the U.S. from Cuba just a few hours before President…
#Politics #Brics #China #Commentary #Cuba #Economy #NuclearWeapons #SovietUnion #AsokaBandarage #BayOfPigs #BeltAndRoadInitiative #CubaBlockade #CubanMissileCrisis #CubanRevolution #CubanRevolutionOf1898 #FulgencioBatista #JoséMartí #Neocolonialism #SpanishConquest #TainoPeople -
Is BRICS the Way Forward?
https://consortiumnews.com/2025/07/11/is-brics-the-way-forward/
After witnessing Cuba’s ailing economy in a recent visit, Asoka Bandarage looks beyond BRICS for an alternative to both authoritarian socialism and neoliberal capitalism. By Asoka Bandarage I returned to the U.S. from Cuba just a few hours before President…
#Politics #Brics #China #Commentary #Cuba #Economy #NuclearWeapons #SovietUnion #AsokaBandarage #BayOfPigs #BeltAndRoadInitiative #CubaBlockade #CubanMissileCrisis #CubanRevolution #CubanRevolutionOf1898 #FulgencioBatista #JoséMartí #Neocolonialism #SpanishConquest #TainoPeople -
Is BRICS the Way Forward?
https://consortiumnews.com/2025/07/11/is-brics-the-way-forward/
After witnessing Cuba’s ailing economy in a recent visit, Asoka Bandarage looks beyond BRICS for an alternative to both authoritarian socialism and neoliberal capitalism. By Asoka Bandarage I returned to the U.S. from Cuba just a few hours before President…
#Politics #Brics #China #Commentary #Cuba #Economy #NuclearWeapons #SovietUnion #AsokaBandarage #BayOfPigs #BeltAndRoadInitiative #CubaBlockade #CubanMissileCrisis #CubanRevolution #CubanRevolutionOf1898 #FulgencioBatista #JoséMartí #Neocolonialism #SpanishConquest #TainoPeople -
Is BRICS the Way Forward?
https://consortiumnews.com/2025/07/11/is-brics-the-way-forward/
After witnessing Cuba’s ailing economy in a recent visit, Asoka Bandarage looks beyond BRICS for an alternative to both authoritarian socialism and neoliberal capitalism. By Asoka Bandarage I returned to the U.S. from Cuba just a few hours before President…
#Politics #Brics #China #Commentary #Cuba #Economy #NuclearWeapons #SovietUnion #AsokaBandarage #BayOfPigs #BeltAndRoadInitiative #CubaBlockade #CubanMissileCrisis #CubanRevolution #CubanRevolutionOf1898 #FulgencioBatista #JoséMartí #Neocolonialism #SpanishConquest #TainoPeople -
Is BRICS the Way Forward?
https://consortiumnews.com/2025/07/11/is-brics-the-way-forward/
After witnessing Cuba’s ailing economy in a recent visit, Asoka Bandarage looks beyond BRICS for an alternative to both authoritarian socialism and neoliberal capitalism. By Asoka Bandarage I returned to the U.S. from Cuba just a few hours before President…
#Politics #Brics #China #Commentary #Cuba #Economy #NuclearWeapons #SovietUnion #AsokaBandarage #BayOfPigs #BeltAndRoadInitiative #CubaBlockade #CubanMissileCrisis #CubanRevolution #CubanRevolutionOf1898 #FulgencioBatista #JoséMartí #Neocolonialism #SpanishConquest #TainoPeople -
Das beim Erdbeben in Bangkok eingestürzte Hochhaus wurde vom selben chinesischen Bauunternehmen errichtet, das auch den eingestürzten Bahnhof von Novi Sad in Serbien renoviert hatte.
Die China Railway Group Limited (CREC) ist teilweise im Staatsbesitz.
#NoviSad #Bangkok #Thailand #Erdbeben #CREC #BRI #beltandroadinitiative #NeueSeidenstraße
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From the Bretton Woods Project: Focus on #MegaProjects
"The [#WorldBank] ’s shift towards leveraging private sector finance for development (see Governance above), which has gained momentum since 2015, includes a particular emphasis on promoting ‘infrastructure as an asset class’, in order to crowd in institutional #investors. This policy initiative is highly dependent on mega-infrastructure projects – and, as noted by a letter sent by concerned economists in October 2018, currently lacks a framework for aligning such mega-projects with the Paris Climate Agreement or the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
"This is of major concern, given that many planned ‘mega-corridors’ in developing regions are predicated on building a new generation of carbon-intensive infrastructure. In many cases, the Bank continues to support such projects that, while not ‘fossil fuel investments’ per se, are part of such carbon-intensive mega-corridors (see Observer Autumn 2018)."
Paper: Infrastructure Megaprojects as World Erasers: Cultural Survival in the Context of the Interoceanic Corridor of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec
Author: Susanne Hofmann, November 8, 2024
"This article explores the meaning of infrastructural changes resulting from the Corredor Interoceánico del Istmo de Tehuantepec (CIIT) infrastructure project for the cultural survival
of Indigenous peoples resident in the Isthmus of Tehuantepec region through the lens of ontological justice. The CIIT is being promoted as a multimodal road and rail transport corridor that will link the Gulf of Mexico with the Pacific Ocean, speed up global trade and benefit local residents. Based on interviews with affected residents in the states of Oaxaca and Veracruz, this research found that there is a strong desire for the continuity of existing, collective life
projects, Indigenous languages, cultural identities, beliefs, spirituality, established political and legal systems, and solidarity economy. De facto, the CIIT infrastructure project functions
as a technology of erasure of other lifeworlds, imposing integration into the One-World World (Escobar, 2016) and assimilation of Indigenous peoples and Afrodescendant communities.
Contemporary legal frameworks are not sufficient to guarantee alterlivability (Hamraie, 2020). Therefore, infrastructural megaprojects based on modern/colonial-extractivist-
developmentalist premises continue to threaten the futurity of Indigenous and
Afrodescendant life projects.[...]
"An increasing number of infrastructure corridors, such as the Corredor Interoceánico, are currently being built across the globe (e.g. the Belt and Road Initiative/China, Corredor Bioceánico/Paraguay; Corredor Interoceánico/Chile-Bolivia-Brazil; The Northern Transport Corridor in East Africa/Kenya-Ethiopia-South Sudan – just to name a few). These projects are directed at reducing ‘economic distance’ –i.e. speeding up the transport of goods across
geographical distance whilst lowering the cost (Hildyard, 2016: 20). In the process, infrastructure megacorridors restructure whole regions into purpose-specific zones for export, logistics, transit, housing development, resource extraction, manufacturing etc."Thereby, they fragment geographic space, generating a distinctive reterritorialisation of the space to develop sites of capitalist growth. Megacorridors connect what Lerner (2010) called 'sacrifice zones' – geographic areas where processes of natural resource extraction cause permanent environmental damage – to global circuits of capital. Across Latin America the social and environmental impacts of extractive megaprojects and resistance against them has
been widely documented (Aguilar Rivero & Echavarría Cango, 2019; Domínguez, 2015, 2017;
Domínguez & Corona, 2016; Ibarra García & Talledos Sánchez, 2016; Pérez Negrete, 2017; Rodríguez Wallenius, 2015). This article explores the meaning of infrastructural changes resulting from the CIIT project for the cultural survival of Indigenous peoples resident in the Isthmus of Tehuantepec region through the lens of ontological justice."Original paper:
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0094582X241294080?journalCode=lapaPDF version:
https://eprints.lse.ac.uk/120254/1/SHofmann_infrastructure_megaprojects_as_world_erasers_LSE_eprint.pdf#MegaInfrastructureProjects #CarbonIntensive #MegaCorridors #SDGs #CIIT #GulfOfMexico #SustainableDevelopmentGoals #DeGrowth #IMFLoanSharks #SacrificeZones #CulturalGenocide #CulturalErasism #EnvironmentalDegradation #EnvironmentalDamage #Capitalism #CorporateColonialism #IndigenousPeoples #CulturalSurvival #IsthmusOfTehuantepec #OntologicalJustice #Tehuantepec #ExtractiveIndustries #Oaxaca #Veracruz #CorredorInteroceánico #BeltAndRoadInitiative #CorredorBioceánico #NorthernTransportCorridor #China, #Paraguay; Corredor #Chile #Bolivia #Brazil #EastAfrica #Kenya #Ethiopia #SouthSudan #IndigenousCulture #AfrodescendantCulture
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China built $3.5 billion Port of Chancay in Peru. USA depicted megaport as threat, but only offered Lima to sell used diesel trains from 1985#AntonyBlinken #BeltandRoadInitiative #BlackRock #BRI #China #G7 #LarryFink #Peru #XiJinping
China builds $3.5 billion mega-port in Peru; US responds offering 40-year-old trains - Geopolitical Economy Report -
Síkela denounces Chinese and Russian ‘neocolonialism’, reiterates need to combat irregular migration https://www.euractiv.com/section/economy-jobs/news/sikela-denounces-chinese-and-russian-neocolonialism-reiterates-need-to-combat-irregular-migration/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=mastodon #BeltandRoadInitiative #commissionerhearings #EUChina #globalgateway
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#China begins work on #Kenya geothermal power plant amid African renewable energy push
"State-owned energy and construction company PowerChina will build the 35-megawatt Orpower 22 #geothermal plant at the Menengai Crater, with the facility owned by Chinese firm Kaishan Group, which is spending US$93 million on the construction."
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Global Gateway: A transformative alternative to China’s belt and road needed https://www.euractiv.com/section/politics/opinion/global-gateway-a-transformative-alternative-to-chinas-belt-and-road-needed/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=mastodon #BeltandRoadInitiative #China #development #GlobalGatewayInitiative
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Global Gateway: A transformative alternative to China’s belt and road needed https://www.euractiv.com/section/politics/opinion/global-gateway-a-transformative-alternative-to-chinas-belt-and-road-needed/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=mastodon #BeltandRoadInitiative #China #development #GlobalGatewayInitiative
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For all the revisionists hyping up the "Marxish-Leninish" Anura Kumara Dissanayake of the new JVP-led gov't of Sri Lanka, here's the Sri Lanka BRI (Belt and Road Initiative) director Yasiru Ranaraja saying that JVP's economic policies don't seem any different to him from the outgoing neoliberal ones. #facts (He is still very positive about him though, of course. 🤔)
The problem here is that, when revisionists present their (in this case, Tamil-genocidal) liberalism as Marxism and fail to stop the economic crisis because they haven't built socialism -- the JVP doesn't even want to nationalize large industry like mining -- it further confuses the masses about how to end capitalism. This is roughly the same approach that fascist governments began taking a century ago to prolong capital's reign.
source: https://twitter.com/YRanaraja/status/1839134078253015323
source: https://www.dailymirror.lk/opinion/JVP-led-NPP-believes-in-a-unique-Sri-Lankan-economic-model-based-on-socialist-principles-Nalinda-Jayatissa-former-MP/231-273197
source: https://www.themorning.lk/articles/218843#news #politics #srilanka #dissanayake #jvp #bri #beltandroadinitiative #china #marxism #marxist #marxismleninism #socialism #marxistleninist #socialist #communism #communist #neoliberalism #india #tamil #fascism
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Here we go... There's always a dark side when there's money involved... And when loans come due!
Dangers and Opportunities as #China’s #Loans to #Africa Come Due
Timothy Ditter | Monday, March 18, 2024
"Many African economies are facing a period of serious #economic distress with a very different character from the debt crisis of the 1980s and 1990s. This time, the People’s Republic of China (#PRC) is a major player, and a dramatic decline in PRC lending has compounded economic shocks in the aftermath of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine—just as the continent tries to recover from the pandemic. From 2001 to 2022, PRC financial institutions provided more than $170 billion in credit, loans, and grants to #AfricanNations, primarily to fund infrastructure projects tied to the PRC’s Belt and Road Initiative. But new PRC loans to African governments plummeted from $28.4 billion in 2016 to less than $2 billion in 2020 and have continued to decline.
"African governments are awakening to the fact that opaque PRC lending practices and problematic #LoanTerms have rendered already fragile economies at an increased risk of default. However, this moment of peril also provides an opportunity for African economies to build resilience by diversifying their economic partnerships and seeking out lenders with better terms and different motivations.
"I and other CNA analysts from our China Studies and Strategy and Policy Analysis programs have just completed a series of studies on trends in the involvement of the PRC across major sectors in Africa in the context of global shocks. These include the military, mining, infrastructure, and financial sectors. We recently released the report PRC Lending in Africa: Impacts in a Time of Global Shocks. This component of the series focuses on PRC lending to nine African countries. In some cases, PRC loans helped African nations build or upgrade much-needed infrastructure. However, we also found a wide range of PRC lending practices that have contributed to the financial distress and increased the risk of default for African countries ravaged by the global shocks of the last few years. These practices include high interest rates, unfavorable terms, and uncompetitive contracting, most of which is hidden from the public in opaque contracts.
"And when African countries struggle to repay those loans, PRC lenders have taken inflexible positions that have delayed and hardened terms in renegotiations.
"China’s Unforgiving Lenders
"Today’s debt troubles have some of their roots in the loan agreements signed when the PRC was eager to plow its excess savings into foreign loans. Often these agreements made the loans due in just 10 years, compared to up to 35 years for loans from the World Bank. Interest rates are often higher, too. For example, the Export–Import Bank of China charged Djibouti a fully commercial rate for the loan to build the Ethiopia-Djibouti railway, higher than multinational lenders like the World Bank charge for loans. The PRC is #Djibouti’s largest creditor, holding approximately $1.4 billion in debt, equal to about 45 percent of the country’s GDP. In January 2023, Djibouti suspended debt payments to the PRC, making it the second African nation—after #Zambia—to do so.
"Often these agreements require loan recipients to give business to PRC contractors—without competitive bidding. The Export–Import Bank of China contract with #Kenya to finance the Standard Gauge Railway connecting the port city of Mombasa to the Great Rift Valley stipulated that most construction materials would be purchased from the PRC. The project ended up much more costly than anticipated, increasing from 220 billion to 327 billion Kenyan shillings over a period of three years. The Kenya Court of Appeal found that 'the project’s design was manipulated to inflate costs while construction and supervision charges were also overpriced.' Such agreements have helped make China’s construction firms dominant on the continent. A University of London study found that of the 32 major international contractor companies working major construction projects in Ethiopia in 2017, 80 percent were PRC contractors.
"Because PRC loan agreements tend to be opaque, the public is usually not even aware of these loan terms. In the case of the Standard Gauge Railway, the loan with the Export–Import Bank of China was signed in 2014, but details about the terms only became publicly known in 2022, preventing oversight from Kenyan politicians or the public. In some cases, those opaque agreements and #unethical business practices may contribute to corruption. The Industrial and Commercial Bank of China funded a dam project in Angola while ignoring various potential red flags, including the involvement of the daughter of Angolan President José Eduardo dos Santos. Isabel dos Santos was awarded the $4.5 billion contract to construct the dam by her father’s government in 2015. As of 2023, Angola holds more PRC debt than any other country in Africa. And the #WorldBank listed Angola as one of seven African countries that it considered to be at high risk of debt distress in 2020.
"Our research found that when struggling African nations need to renegotiate their loans, PRC lenders have resisted standard #LoanForgiveness practices and have slowed debt negotiations. The PRC does not follow typical debt negotiation protocols used by multilateral institutions such as the World Bank. Instead, the PRC prefers bilateral negotiations, often behind closed doors, and strongly resists cutting the total principal owed on loans. Rather, PRC lenders favor extending repayment periods or holding infrastructure as collateral on loans. This has an impact on negotiations with other creditors as well, since lenders want concessions to be shared fairly. Recent negotiations to restructure #Chad’s debt with a committee of five bilateral creditors took nearly two years. World Bank and IMF officials claimed that lenders from China unnecessarily delayed the debt deal, an accusation that has come up in debt negotiations with other African countries.
"In the long run, however, this difficult period could have an upside for African nations. The reduction in PRC loans provides an opportunity for African countries to diversify, considering new economic partnerships on more favorable terms, with greater transparency and good governance. African nations can use multilateral negotiations to seek out lenders operating with different motivations, lenders that can help them build domestic economic strength and resilience for the future."
Source:
https://www.cna.org/our-media/indepth/2024/03/china-loans-to-africa -
Here we go... There's always a dark side when there's money involved... And when loans come due!
Dangers and Opportunities as #China’s #Loans to #Africa Come Due
Timothy Ditter | Monday, March 18, 2024
"Many African economies are facing a period of serious #economic distress with a very different character from the debt crisis of the 1980s and 1990s. This time, the People’s Republic of China (#PRC) is a major player, and a dramatic decline in PRC lending has compounded economic shocks in the aftermath of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine—just as the continent tries to recover from the pandemic. From 2001 to 2022, PRC financial institutions provided more than $170 billion in credit, loans, and grants to #AfricanNations, primarily to fund infrastructure projects tied to the PRC’s Belt and Road Initiative. But new PRC loans to African governments plummeted from $28.4 billion in 2016 to less than $2 billion in 2020 and have continued to decline.
"African governments are awakening to the fact that opaque PRC lending practices and problematic #LoanTerms have rendered already fragile economies at an increased risk of default. However, this moment of peril also provides an opportunity for African economies to build resilience by diversifying their economic partnerships and seeking out lenders with better terms and different motivations.
"I and other CNA analysts from our China Studies and Strategy and Policy Analysis programs have just completed a series of studies on trends in the involvement of the PRC across major sectors in Africa in the context of global shocks. These include the military, mining, infrastructure, and financial sectors. We recently released the report PRC Lending in Africa: Impacts in a Time of Global Shocks. This component of the series focuses on PRC lending to nine African countries. In some cases, PRC loans helped African nations build or upgrade much-needed infrastructure. However, we also found a wide range of PRC lending practices that have contributed to the financial distress and increased the risk of default for African countries ravaged by the global shocks of the last few years. These practices include high interest rates, unfavorable terms, and uncompetitive contracting, most of which is hidden from the public in opaque contracts.
"And when African countries struggle to repay those loans, PRC lenders have taken inflexible positions that have delayed and hardened terms in renegotiations.
"China’s Unforgiving Lenders
"Today’s debt troubles have some of their roots in the loan agreements signed when the PRC was eager to plow its excess savings into foreign loans. Often these agreements made the loans due in just 10 years, compared to up to 35 years for loans from the World Bank. Interest rates are often higher, too. For example, the Export–Import Bank of China charged Djibouti a fully commercial rate for the loan to build the Ethiopia-Djibouti railway, higher than multinational lenders like the World Bank charge for loans. The PRC is #Djibouti’s largest creditor, holding approximately $1.4 billion in debt, equal to about 45 percent of the country’s GDP. In January 2023, Djibouti suspended debt payments to the PRC, making it the second African nation—after #Zambia—to do so.
"Often these agreements require loan recipients to give business to PRC contractors—without competitive bidding. The Export–Import Bank of China contract with #Kenya to finance the Standard Gauge Railway connecting the port city of Mombasa to the Great Rift Valley stipulated that most construction materials would be purchased from the PRC. The project ended up much more costly than anticipated, increasing from 220 billion to 327 billion Kenyan shillings over a period of three years. The Kenya Court of Appeal found that 'the project’s design was manipulated to inflate costs while construction and supervision charges were also overpriced.' Such agreements have helped make China’s construction firms dominant on the continent. A University of London study found that of the 32 major international contractor companies working major construction projects in Ethiopia in 2017, 80 percent were PRC contractors.
"Because PRC loan agreements tend to be opaque, the public is usually not even aware of these loan terms. In the case of the Standard Gauge Railway, the loan with the Export–Import Bank of China was signed in 2014, but details about the terms only became publicly known in 2022, preventing oversight from Kenyan politicians or the public. In some cases, those opaque agreements and #unethical business practices may contribute to corruption. The Industrial and Commercial Bank of China funded a dam project in Angola while ignoring various potential red flags, including the involvement of the daughter of Angolan President José Eduardo dos Santos. Isabel dos Santos was awarded the $4.5 billion contract to construct the dam by her father’s government in 2015. As of 2023, Angola holds more PRC debt than any other country in Africa. And the #WorldBank listed Angola as one of seven African countries that it considered to be at high risk of debt distress in 2020.
"Our research found that when struggling African nations need to renegotiate their loans, PRC lenders have resisted standard #LoanForgiveness practices and have slowed debt negotiations. The PRC does not follow typical debt negotiation protocols used by multilateral institutions such as the World Bank. Instead, the PRC prefers bilateral negotiations, often behind closed doors, and strongly resists cutting the total principal owed on loans. Rather, PRC lenders favor extending repayment periods or holding infrastructure as collateral on loans. This has an impact on negotiations with other creditors as well, since lenders want concessions to be shared fairly. Recent negotiations to restructure #Chad’s debt with a committee of five bilateral creditors took nearly two years. World Bank and IMF officials claimed that lenders from China unnecessarily delayed the debt deal, an accusation that has come up in debt negotiations with other African countries.
"In the long run, however, this difficult period could have an upside for African nations. The reduction in PRC loans provides an opportunity for African countries to diversify, considering new economic partnerships on more favorable terms, with greater transparency and good governance. African nations can use multilateral negotiations to seek out lenders operating with different motivations, lenders that can help them build domestic economic strength and resilience for the future."
Source:
https://www.cna.org/our-media/indepth/2024/03/china-loans-to-africa -
Here we go... There's always a dark side when there's money involved... And when loans come due!
Dangers and Opportunities as #China’s #Loans to #Africa Come Due
Timothy Ditter | Monday, March 18, 2024
"Many African economies are facing a period of serious #economic distress with a very different character from the debt crisis of the 1980s and 1990s. This time, the People’s Republic of China (#PRC) is a major player, and a dramatic decline in PRC lending has compounded economic shocks in the aftermath of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine—just as the continent tries to recover from the pandemic. From 2001 to 2022, PRC financial institutions provided more than $170 billion in credit, loans, and grants to #AfricanNations, primarily to fund infrastructure projects tied to the PRC’s Belt and Road Initiative. But new PRC loans to African governments plummeted from $28.4 billion in 2016 to less than $2 billion in 2020 and have continued to decline.
"African governments are awakening to the fact that opaque PRC lending practices and problematic #LoanTerms have rendered already fragile economies at an increased risk of default. However, this moment of peril also provides an opportunity for African economies to build resilience by diversifying their economic partnerships and seeking out lenders with better terms and different motivations.
"I and other CNA analysts from our China Studies and Strategy and Policy Analysis programs have just completed a series of studies on trends in the involvement of the PRC across major sectors in Africa in the context of global shocks. These include the military, mining, infrastructure, and financial sectors. We recently released the report PRC Lending in Africa: Impacts in a Time of Global Shocks. This component of the series focuses on PRC lending to nine African countries. In some cases, PRC loans helped African nations build or upgrade much-needed infrastructure. However, we also found a wide range of PRC lending practices that have contributed to the financial distress and increased the risk of default for African countries ravaged by the global shocks of the last few years. These practices include high interest rates, unfavorable terms, and uncompetitive contracting, most of which is hidden from the public in opaque contracts.
"And when African countries struggle to repay those loans, PRC lenders have taken inflexible positions that have delayed and hardened terms in renegotiations.
"China’s Unforgiving Lenders
"Today’s debt troubles have some of their roots in the loan agreements signed when the PRC was eager to plow its excess savings into foreign loans. Often these agreements made the loans due in just 10 years, compared to up to 35 years for loans from the World Bank. Interest rates are often higher, too. For example, the Export–Import Bank of China charged Djibouti a fully commercial rate for the loan to build the Ethiopia-Djibouti railway, higher than multinational lenders like the World Bank charge for loans. The PRC is #Djibouti’s largest creditor, holding approximately $1.4 billion in debt, equal to about 45 percent of the country’s GDP. In January 2023, Djibouti suspended debt payments to the PRC, making it the second African nation—after #Zambia—to do so.
"Often these agreements require loan recipients to give business to PRC contractors—without competitive bidding. The Export–Import Bank of China contract with #Kenya to finance the Standard Gauge Railway connecting the port city of Mombasa to the Great Rift Valley stipulated that most construction materials would be purchased from the PRC. The project ended up much more costly than anticipated, increasing from 220 billion to 327 billion Kenyan shillings over a period of three years. The Kenya Court of Appeal found that 'the project’s design was manipulated to inflate costs while construction and supervision charges were also overpriced.' Such agreements have helped make China’s construction firms dominant on the continent. A University of London study found that of the 32 major international contractor companies working major construction projects in Ethiopia in 2017, 80 percent were PRC contractors.
"Because PRC loan agreements tend to be opaque, the public is usually not even aware of these loan terms. In the case of the Standard Gauge Railway, the loan with the Export–Import Bank of China was signed in 2014, but details about the terms only became publicly known in 2022, preventing oversight from Kenyan politicians or the public. In some cases, those opaque agreements and #unethical business practices may contribute to corruption. The Industrial and Commercial Bank of China funded a dam project in Angola while ignoring various potential red flags, including the involvement of the daughter of Angolan President José Eduardo dos Santos. Isabel dos Santos was awarded the $4.5 billion contract to construct the dam by her father’s government in 2015. As of 2023, Angola holds more PRC debt than any other country in Africa. And the #WorldBank listed Angola as one of seven African countries that it considered to be at high risk of debt distress in 2020.
"Our research found that when struggling African nations need to renegotiate their loans, PRC lenders have resisted standard #LoanForgiveness practices and have slowed debt negotiations. The PRC does not follow typical debt negotiation protocols used by multilateral institutions such as the World Bank. Instead, the PRC prefers bilateral negotiations, often behind closed doors, and strongly resists cutting the total principal owed on loans. Rather, PRC lenders favor extending repayment periods or holding infrastructure as collateral on loans. This has an impact on negotiations with other creditors as well, since lenders want concessions to be shared fairly. Recent negotiations to restructure #Chad’s debt with a committee of five bilateral creditors took nearly two years. World Bank and IMF officials claimed that lenders from China unnecessarily delayed the debt deal, an accusation that has come up in debt negotiations with other African countries.
"In the long run, however, this difficult period could have an upside for African nations. The reduction in PRC loans provides an opportunity for African countries to diversify, considering new economic partnerships on more favorable terms, with greater transparency and good governance. African nations can use multilateral negotiations to seek out lenders operating with different motivations, lenders that can help them build domestic economic strength and resilience for the future."
Source:
https://www.cna.org/our-media/indepth/2024/03/china-loans-to-africa -
Mainland China has somewhere north of USD $1 trillion loaned out almost entirely to states in financial crisis and is imposing punishing terms on repayment: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/nov/06/china-worlds-biggest-debt-collector-as-poorer-nations-struggle-with-its-loans
#china #prc #peoplesrepublicofchina #beltandroad #bri #beltandroadinitiative #debt #lending #money #finance #amyhawkins #guardian #theguardian #theguardiandotorg #debt
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Italian defense minister expresses regret at joining the Belt and Road Initiative: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-66354362
#italy #china #peoplesrepublicofchina #prc #beltandroad #beltandroadinitiative #bbc #bbcnews #alysdavies
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Brazil and China Deepen Trade Integration to Move Away From US Dollar, as First Yuan-Based Settlement Is Processed - Brazil and China have reached a milestone in their economic integration, as the fi... - https://news.bitcoin.com/brazil-and-china-deepen-trade-integration-to-move-away-from-us-dollar-as-first-yuan-based-settlement-is-processed/ #industrialandcommercialbankofchina(icbc) #beltandroadinitiative #luisinacioluladasilva #presidentxijinping #dilmarousseff #chineseyuan #u.s.dollar