Reduced BRI Expected to Offer Less Money
Israel-Hamas war overshadows forum in Beijing
By: Toh Han Shih
Although Chinese President Xi Jinping promised to keep up the funding at the third Belt and Road Forum, a celebratory gathering of BRI recipients, supplicants, and friendly country leaders in Beijing earlier this week, analysts expect China to tighten the purse strings in coming years for projects around the world given the country’s flagging economy and structural changes in the gargantuan scheme.
Ten years ago, Xi launched the BRI, a US$1.3 trillion plan designed to connect China with other countries through infrastructure projects including ports, railways, and roads. At the forum in Beijing, Xi announced that two state-owned policy banks, the China Development Bank and the Export-Import Bank of China, would establish financing platforms of RMB350 billion each, while RMB80 billion will be invested in the state-backed Silk Road Fund. The total, earmarked for Belt and Road projects in various countries, would be equivalent to US$107 billion for the next five years, matching the level of funding in the past five years.
Analysts don’t take the funding level announced by Xi at face value, however, and believe the actual money on the table will be less…