Italy has announced its formal withdrawal from the Belt and Road Initiative after joining the China-centered infrastructure and investment project in 2019.
The timing of the announcement that Rome won’t renew its BRI commitment is notable. It came only a day before the EU-China summit, which kicks off on Thursday. The summit will likely be more contentious than usual, with European leaders expected to push China on the treatment of EU firms amid discussions ...
Day: January 12, 2021
Unpacking the Chinese Government’s New Development Vision
This weekend the Chinese government released a new white paper on development. It comes in unassuming guise – it’s basically a MS Word Doc with the workaday title of China’s International Development Cooperation in the New Era. But in its own way it’s eye-popping. If (like ...
Angola Gets Some Badly-Needed “Breathing Space” From China on Debt Repayments
Chinese creditors have reportedly agreed to grant Angola a three-year debt repayment moratorium, according to the West African country's finance minister Vera Daves de Sousa. Angola is by far China's largest borrower in Africa with an estimated $20 billion of outstanding loans from the ...
Gyude Moore: Disappointed that Chinese FM Wang Yi Avoided Talking About the Debt Crisis in Certain African Countries During His Recent Tour
During his five-nation Africa tour last week, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi did not focus much attention on the ongoing debt crisis in the handful of countries on the continent that have borrowed heavily from Chinese creditors. That was very disappointing to some observers, including Gyude Moore, ...
China’s Risky “Build It and They Will Come” Development Strategy
There's widespread speculation that Chinese financial support for its hugely ambitious Belt and Road Initiative may be waning due to the current economic crisis and the desire among senior Chinese policymakers to focus more attention on the domestic front. ...
China Steadily Lessens Dependence on U.S. Market With More Exports Going to Asia; Africa, LatAm Far Behind
Chinese Foreign Minister kicked off a four-nation tour of Southeast Asia in Myanmar on Monday where he met with newly re-elected President Win Myint (photo) and Aung Sang Suu Kyi, the de facto head of the government and leader of the ruling National League for Democracy party. ...
Analysis from Cobus van Staden
Awkward Timing as Italy Withdraws from BRI
Will China Ever Look to Africa as a Manufacturing Destination?
"Made in China" once represented the lowest-cost manufacturing in the world. Not anymore. Labor costs have been steadily rising, environmental regulations are much stricter now, and, as of last year, Chinese products exported to the U.S. come with expensive tariffs.