Risk awareness

Zou has become increasingly aware that risks may arise from capricious changes in the international economic and political situation.

“Although many countries along the Belt and Road have shown willingness to receive investment from China, the volatile political situation in some countries may lead to sudden changes of foreign policy and then bring enormous risks to investment,” said Zou, suggesting that more study should be carried out on the political situation and legal environment of destination countries and that before making investments, related response plans should be formulated to tackle possible risks.

In addition to a prudent attitude toward the global economic and political situation, MCC Overseas also infuses business adjustment and innovation with risk awareness, said Zou.

In the past, the company adopted a simplistic operation model - participating in tender bidding and then starting construction. Now, more multilateral cooperative projects are on the plate.

“Coordinating with other parties and allocating profits to achieve win-win results needs to be probed and practiced more,“said Zou.

Beyond all that, funding is a problem that many Belt and Road projects confront and cannot solve by counting entirely on local governments and banks. On the other hand, since most of them involve infrastructure construction, the demand is urgent.

“MCC Overseas has tried some new ways to seek breakthroughs, such as industry funds and exclusive selling rights. Any innovative move may have potential risks,” said Zou. “In terms of finance, innovation can even multiply risks, which requires us to be on the alert all the time.”