China’s investment into Belt and Road countries rose last year to the highest since 2018, a new report says, with companies putting almost $50 billion into overseas projects, reports Bloomberg. Total investment was almost 80% higher than in 2022 and helped take total engagement with the 150 countries that have signed up to the infrastructure initiative to more than $1 trillion since 2013, according to a new report from Griffith University in Australia and Fudan University in Shanghai.
Investment into high-technology projects, including electric-vehicle manufacturing, expanded substantially. The battery sector saw about $8 billion in engagement, the report said, driven by plans for a battery factory in South Korea and car plants in countries such as Thailand, Vietnam, Brazil and Hungary.
The report confirms recent data that showed China’s outbound investment last year rose to the highest since 2016, despite the domestic slowdown and concern in some nations about the nation’s influence and lending practices. The drop-off in BRI construction may reflect those worries, and a number of countries have restructured their debt in recent years, including money they borrowed to pay for Chinese-led infrastructure projects.