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 17, 2023
Uganda Cancels Chinese Rail Deal After 8-Year Financing Lag
The government of Uganda announced that it canceled a 2015 contract with China Harbor Engineering Co. (CHEC) to build a rail line linking the capital of Kampala and the Kenyan border. This follows an eight-year lag as the contractor failed to get Chinese policy bank funding for the ...
South African Rail Company Puts Out Tender to Fix Faulty Chinese-Made Trains
South Africa’s state railway company Transnet has put out a tender for any company that can fix non-operational Chinese-made locomotives acquired under a corrupt deal. The original manufacturer of the locomotives, China Railway Rolling Stock Corp (CRRC), refused to supply the needed ...
U.S. Treasury Secretary’s Africa Tour Takes on China, Debt
U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen is heading to Africa for a 10-day trip to Senegal, South Africa and Zambia. The continent’s green transition will feature prominently, with Yellen visiting South African coal country to champion the implementation of an $8.5 billion deal, ...
U.S., Europe Backseat Drivers in Africa: Expert
He Wenping, the Program Director at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences’ Institute of West-Asian and African Studies and one of China’s most prominent Africa experts, laid into U.S. and European efforts in Africa. In an interview in the magazine Guancha, ...
Update on Riot at Chinese-owned Factory in Indonesia
New video footage is emerging of the riot at a Chinese-owned nickel smelter in Indonesia that killed two people over the weekend. Hundreds of security personnel were deployed to quell the protests by Indonesian laborers over poor working conditions. (REUTERS)
Analysis from Cobus van Staden
Awkward Timing as Italy Withdraws from BRI
Fun Fact: China’s Unexpected Corn Boom
Many would be surprised to hear the results of new research showing that China now produces more corn than rice. And its need for biofuels, starches and animal feed is so big it also imports huge amounts from other corn producers like Brazil.