SHANGHAI, July 25 — China’s finance and investment spending in Belt and Road countries fell slightly in the first half compared to a year earlier, with no new coal projects and investments in Russia, Egypt and Sri Lanka falling to zero, new research showed.
Total financing and investment stood at US$28.4 billion over the period, down from US$29.6 billion a year earlier, bringing total cumulative Belt and Road spending to US$932 billion since 2013, GFDC said. But it has come under scrutiny for the debt burden it places on countries and other issues such as environmental degradation. Some countries have also renegotiated their investment projects with China, highlighting the debt risks.
However, a Chinese developer won a bid to build a thermal power plant in Indonesia in February, and there are still 11.2 gigawatts of capacity that have already secured financing though are yet to begin construction, according to GFDC, part of Shanghai’s Fudan University.