The days of China easily handing out billions of dollars to build infrastructure in developing countries around the world are now over. The Chinese can’t afford it anymore and many of the borrowing countries just don’t have the capacity to take on more debt.
But that doesn’t mean the Chinese aren’t lending anymore. They are. It’s just that the projects they finance today are either small — below $50 million — or “beautiful” — support local communities and align with certain Chinese political objectives.