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The worth of Chinese language firms’ new funding and development contracts in international locations which might be a part of President Xi Jinping’s world Belt and Street Initiative has hit a file excessive this yr, a brand new examine has discovered.
The enlargement in abroad markets and China’s elevated engagement with international locations below its flagship BRI infrastructure programme distinction starkly with the strategy of the US, the place President Donald Trump is imposing bruising tariffs on buying and selling companions all over the world.
Chinese language development contracts and investments in BRI members totalled $124bn over 176 offers within the first six months of the yr, better than the whole of $122bn for the entire of 2024, in response to a examine by Australia’s Griffith College and the Inexperienced Finance & Improvement Heart in Beijing.
“The surge in Chinese language engagement this yr is stunning, even towards the backdrop of steadily rising BRI exercise since Covid,” mentioned Christoph Nedopil Wang, the examine’s writer. “What units 2025 aside is the size: a number of megadeals every exceeding $10bn.”
Wang mentioned sluggish home progress and the necessity to diversify provide chains and markets as a result of commerce battle sparked by Trump’s tariffs had prompted some Chinese language firms to look overseas, whereas BRI international locations noticed “a possibility to deepen ties with China amid shifting world geoeconomic dynamics”.
Launched in 2013, Xi has used the BRI to deepen China’s financial affect and commerce ties with 150 international locations, significantly within the creating world.
The surge within the first half introduced the whole worth of contracts and investments below BRI to $1.3tn, the examine discovered, comprising contracts value about $775bn in development and $533bn in non-financial investments.
“China’s energy-related engagement in 2025 was the best in any interval because the BRI’s inception,” the examine mentioned, including that the worth of such funding and development contracts was highest in Africa at $39bn and Central Asia at $25bn.
The examine discovered oil and gasoline development contracts and funding surged to a file excessive of about $44bn within the first half, exceeding full-year 2024, with $20bn of labor involving processing services in Nigeria.
Kazakhstan obtained essentially the most funding of any particular person BRI associate at $23bn, whereas Latin America obtained its lowest worth of contracts and investments in 10 years.
Chinese language firms’ contracts and funding in wind, photo voltaic and waste-to-energy initiatives in BRI companions hit a file of almost $10bn, whereas in addition they continued to put money into coal and ploughed a file almost $25bn into metals and mining.
Different researchers additionally mentioned their calculations confirmed a rise in BRI offers.
US-based Rhodium Group mentioned that introduced overseas direct funding by Chinese language entities in BRI international locations was value almost $15.9bn within the first quarter, up 10 per cent from the identical interval a yr earlier.
Rhodium mentioned south-east Asia accounted for a lot of the funding momentum in BRI international locations as firms sought to diversify their manufacturing bases from China.
The Griffith and GFDC examine mentioned south-east Asia attracted the second-highest funding flows after Central Asia, with almost $11.3bn.
Rebecca Ray, senior tutorial researcher at Boston College’s International Improvement Coverage Heart, which additionally tracks the BRI, mentioned the programme had shifted from sovereign lending to FDI because it matured.
IMF information confirmed that China’s internet fairness overseas soared by greater than 50 per cent between 2018 and 2023. This in contrast with progress of simply 21 per cent for the US.
“This shift could also be helpful, because it avoids contributing to sovereign debt issues,” Ray mentioned.
In recent times, China has been accused of luring BRI international locations right into a debt trap by lending closely to them to fund mega-infrastructure initiatives.
Ray mentioned rising commerce tensions and obstacles between the US and Europe and “world south” international locations meant commerce between China and its BRI companions was set to extend.
She mentioned China had eradicated tariffs for African international locations at the same time as lots of them confronted future carbon pricing-related duties on their exports to Europe and new tariffs on their exports to the US.
“Commerce flows will little doubt alter to satisfy this new actuality, and funding patterns will observe,” Ray mentioned.
