24.12.2020, Moscow.
The Chinese authorities are close to the completion of the first phase of the Belt and Road Initiative, the director of the Institute of Far East, Professor Aleksey Maslov said on December 24 on his Telegram channel.
This is how the expert commented the rapid decline of China’s foreign investments, from $222 billion in 2016 to approximately $50 in 2020.
“Are they out of money? No, they have changed their strategy, and Chine warned that the unlimited money spending would be over, and that certain countries would even have to pay their debts,” Maslov explained.
The orientalist reminded that China has spent approximately $4 trillion for the Belt and Road Initiative over the past 7 years. He believes that the key Chinese infrastructure projects are close to completion.
“Now Chinese investors will have to search for ways to earn money from the operation of the new facilities, e.g. railroads, but not simply rely on another multi-billion investment by the government. <…> Many states that were happy receiving funds from China will realize for the first time that they received loans, not sponsorship, and these loans have to be repaid,” Maslov noted.
The Belt and Road Initiative is an initiative of combined projects to create the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st century Maritime Silk Road proposed by PRC Chairman Xi Jinping in the fall of 2013 during his visits to the countries of Central Asia and Indonesia. The Silk Road Economic Belt is a project to create a transportation, energy, and trade corridor between the Asian and the European countries, which is to pass across the Eurasian continent.
The 21st century Maritime Silk Road project includes the creation of two marine routes: one from the Chinese coast across the South China Sea to the Southern Pacific; the other is to connect the coastal China and Europe through the South China Sea and the Indian Ocean.
Source: Rossa Primavera News Agency
