A Xinhua headline from Wednesday hints that years of criticism of low-quality Chinese-built infrastructure in developing countries may be having its desired effect.
Chinese messaging on these issues used to focus on the speed of delivery or the low cost of construction. But the fact that Xinhua’s story on the completion of a 53km section of the Trans-Saharan Highway in Algeria focused on quality may be a direct response to those earlier critiques and a preview of what’s to come in the burgeoning contest between the G7’s new PGII and the BRI.