Majority of China’s BRI projects adversely hit due to Covid, says top official

Beijing, June 28: Majority of the projects under China’s ambitious multi-billion-dollar Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) are either adversely or partially affected by the coronavirus pandemic, according to a Chinese official.

About a fifth of the projects under the BRI, which aims to boost trade and investment across Asia, Africa and Europe to further China’s global influence, had been “seriously affected” by the pandemic, according to Wang Xiaolong, director-general of the foreign ministry’s international economic affairs department.

About 40 per cent of the projects were “adversely affected”, and a further 30-40 per cent were “somewhat affected”, Hong Kongbased South China Morning Post quoted Wang as saying.

The BRI was launched by Chinese President Xi Jinping when he came to power in 2013. It aims to link Southeast Asia, Central Asia, the Gulf region, Africa and Europe with a network of land and sea route. The CPEC, which connects Gwadar Port in Pakistan’s Balochistan with China’s Xinjiang province, is the flagship project of the BRI.

China last week held the first video conference of the BRI as part of its efforts to kick start the projects.

The projects which were disrupted included $60 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), the report said. India has protested over the CPEC as it is being laid through Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.

◗ THE BELT AND ROAD INITIATIVE (BRI) was launched by Chinese President Xi Jinping when he came to power in 2013. It aims to link Southeast Asia, Central Asia, the Gulf region, Africa and Europe with a network of land and sea route