Half of China's infrastructure investment 'destroyed' value

More than half of Chinese infrastructure investments have “destroyed, not generated” economic value as the costs have been larger than the benefits, according to researchers at Oxford university.  China has stepped up infrastructure spending this year to buffer a slowdown in manufacturing investment. According to the Financial Times, the research paper takes aim at the view that that high rates of infrastructure investment are crucial to growth for developing economies and that China offers a model for others emulate. On the contrary, it warns that countries such as Brazil, Nigeria and Pakistan should not follow China’s path. President Xi Jinping’s signature foreign policy initiative, the New Silk Road, calls for the country to finance road, rail and port construction to connect China with central Asia, the Middle East and Europe.