Changing focus of China’s Belt and Road

The focus for China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is shifting away from investment in pure construction and infrastructure projects towards new contracts in the mining and metals sector, according to data release by The Fudan University, a national public research university in Shanghai, China.

According to a report in the Financial Times, the data from the university revealed that in the first half of 2023, investments as a share of BRI engagement reached a record 61%, marking the first six-month period that construction contracts accounted for less than half the value of new BRI financing.

During the same period Chinese investments and new contracts in the mining and metals sector topped US$10 billion – more than the 2022 full-year total. This puts this year’s investments on track to exceed the previous record of US$17 billion in 2018.

This shift in investment comes as the country looks to secure the resources needed to produce clean energy – resources that are expected to only become more valuable and scarce as the world fights climate change.

The BRI has operated in over 140 countries and has surpassed US$1 trillion in cumulative projects. Itay signed up to the BRI in 2019 but in a recent interview the country’s defence minister called the decision “atrocious” and had done little to boost its exports, while allowing Chinese exports to Italy to significantly increase.