China’s Belt and Road is a mixed bag — these are some of the top projects so far
Karachi — China’s huge programme to recreate trade routes stretching from Asia to Africa and Europe is gaining momentum. Since President Xi Jinping’s flagship Belt and Road project was announced about five years ago, it gave impetus to billions of dollars of Chinese investment — some of which were already in the pipeline for several years — to build railways, roads, ports and power plants. The programme is not without controversy: debt risk is rising, an influx of Chinese workers has fuelled tension with locals, and there is concern about China’s dominance in the region. And not all of the projects have succeeded. "It’s been a mixed bag so far," says Michael Kugelman, a senior associate for South Asia at the Woodrow Wilson Center in Washington. "There have certainly been success stories, and there will be more of them too, but there have also been setbacks." With many projects in various stages of developments, measuring the success and potential benefits can be tricky. Here is a li...
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