Category: Investment

How a Chinese Couple Built Africa’s Diaper Empire

When Softcare debuted on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on November 10, few outside Asia had heard of it. Yet the “King of African Diapers” saw its shares jump 33% on day one, valuing the company at over $2.57 billion. Unlike the tech startups dominating headlines, ...

China Among Top Investors as Thailand Logs $42.6 Billion in 2025 Projects

Chinese and regional investors are backing Thailand’s push to become a high-end production and data hub for Southeast Asia. The country’s Board of Investment said investors filed about $42.6 billion worth of new projects this year to build EV battery plants, semiconductor production and large data ...

Why Chinese Companies Are Pouring Money Into Brazil

China’s economic ties with Brazil are booming, and 2024 saw a stunning 113% jump in Chinese investment, totaling $4.2 billion across 39 projects, the highest number ever, according to a new report by the Brazil-China Business Council.

China’s Overseas Bullet Train: Malaysians Still Top Foreign Riders

China’s first overseas high-speed rail in Indonesia, the Whoosh bullet train, is carrying a steady flow of foreign passengers, and Malaysians continue to account for the largest share, the operator said. In less than two years since its inauguration in ...

China’s Belt and Road Hits New Highs, but Latin America Lags

By Fermín Koop and Patrick Moore The first half of 2025 saw the highest engagement ever for a six-month period under the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), China’s flagship global infrastructure program, a new report has shown.

Analysis from Cobus van Staden

The Pain of Un-Polarity

“THE G2 WILL BE CONVENING SHORTLY!”
This post by U.S. President Donald Trump in the run-up to his meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping last week may end up leaving a more lasting mark than the actual summit he attended.

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[WEEK IN REVIEW] China Invests in Angola to Secure Food Supply Chains

Chinese construction giant Sinohydro signed a $100 million deal with Angola to build out the country's agricultural infrastructure in a bid to boost grain production. While 60% of the output from this venture will be shipped to China, the rest will ...

China’s Belt and Road Shatters Expectations With Record Activity

For much of the past two years, we've been told to expect a slimmer, more austere Belt and Road under the new "Small Yet Beautiful" mantra. The days of Chinese mega deals across the Global South were over... or so we ...

Vietnam’s Growth Surges. But Is It Still a Bargain for Global Manufacturing?

Chinese companies are pouring into Vietnam, but rising costs and fragile foundations raise questions about how long the boom can last. Vietnam’s GDP grew 7.52% in the first half of 2025, recording its fastest first-half growth in 15 years. A record ...

Chinese BRI Investments and Construction Contracts Smash New Records in the First Half of 2025

The value of Chinese investment and construction contracts in Belt and Road Initiative countries surged in the first six months of 2025 to a record $124 billion, more than what was spent for the whole of last year. The findings by 

China’s Big Bet on Indonesian Nickel Faces a Harsh Reckoning

For years, China raced to secure the critical minerals needed to fuel its economy and the global clean energy transition. Nickel was supposed to be one of the surest bets. Now, one of China’s largest investments in Indonesia’s nickel industry is unraveling—and with it, some of the ...

The Chinese FDI Boom in Africa That Wasn’t

For years, China has been seen as the pivotal international economic partner across Africa. That was certainly true in terms of steadily rising trade volumes and a fire hose of state backed loans that built roads, railways, and ports across the ...

Indonesia, China Firms to Invest in EVs, Batteries, Data Centers

Indonesia's sovereign fund Danantara is coordinating with three to four unnamed Chinese companies to invest in EVs, batteries, and data centers, signaling a deepening of bilateral industrial alignment and an attempt to position Indonesia as a critical node in Asia's clean-tech value chain. ...
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