Kate Bullivant
speaker
258 appearances
13 recordings
1 series
first heard Mar 2025
last heard 9 Oct
Kate Bullivant’s voice in public audio — every appearance, attributed to the second.
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Appearances
And they're spreading the risk around by teaming up with other lenders to underwrite loans, a practice called syndicated lending.
Wegen den Partnern, die Terme der Löhne haben sich selbst verändert. Beijing hat von Anfang an auf kommerzielle Terme gelendet, aber jetzt werden die Interessensrate dieser Löhne höher. Sie übertragen 4,2 Prozent, laut A-Data, was deutlich höher ist als die Kompetenzen. In der Zwischenzeit werden die Verlängerungsperioden kürzer.
Und China setzt zusätzliche Sicherheitsmaßnahmen ein, um sicherzustellen, dass es nicht mit unerhörlichen Schulden verbunden ist, effektiv mehr Risiken für schwere Länder aufzunehmen.
So China is becoming more careful with its money. But what is it actually investing in now? And have efforts to shield itself from risks linked to the Belt and Road paid off? We'll look into that after the break.
As China continues to adapt the Belt and Road, the types of projects it's investing in are changing too. In recent years, Beijing has been keen to highlight a shift away from massive infrastructure projects. All those dams, ports and highways at the center of Belt and Road 1.0. And instead is touting what it calls small and beautiful builds like solar and wind power facilities.
Brad Parks from Aid Data told me that while Beijing hasn't abandoned traditional larger scale projects, this rebrand is an answer to Beijing's evolving needs.
Those sorts of course corrections help the Belt and Road Program invest in the industries and supply chains that Beijing sees as the future. And, as we heard before the break, China has changed the way it cuts deals, charging higher rates and asking countries to put up more collateral.
But as we talked about last week, China isn't, for the most part, going around the world grabbing collateral from countries that are struggling to repay their debts. So does this mean that China's portfolio is out of the woods? Could Beijing actually be about to reap a financial windfall as those loans start getting repaid? Here's what Brad had to say.
We reached out to China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs for comment on their debt portfolio and how many of their borrowers are insolvent. They didn't address this specifically, but they did say they provide developing countries financing at preferential interest rates and with longer maturities.
Up next we take a look at how all these changes to Belt and Road set up Beijing to continue gathering global influence. That's after the break. The jury is still out on whether China will take an economic hit from the Belt and Road.
But how do the changes to its signature lending project that we've been talking about support Beijing's strategic goals, especially when it comes to boosting China's standing on the world stage?
That's Steve Tsang. He's the director at the SOAS China Institute, a leading research center based in London. And those three initiatives he just mentioned are the Global Development Initiative, the Global Security Initiative and the Global Civilization Initiative.
In a nutshell, the three initiatives seek to position China as a partner to developing countries, largely in Africa, Asia and Latin America, often referred to as the Global South. A partner that nations wary of US dominance can do business with and seek national security guarantees or energy, finance and food security.
China spends less on Belt and Road loans today than it was a few years back, almost half what it did at the programme's peak. But there's one more change we've seen from Beijing that supports its broader ambitions. It started issuing more debt in its own currency instead of in dollars.
Seit der Geburt von Belton Road im Jahr 2013 hat sich die geopolitische Landschaft dramatisch verändert, sowohl mit dem Anfang der Krieg in der Ukraine als auch mit dem eskalierenden Konflikt im Mittleren Osten. Journalist Chun Han-Wong berichtet über chinesische Politik und Außenpolitik.
Er hat mir gesagt, dass in diesem neuen Welt, China sich als ein ehrlicher Verkäufer präsentieren möchte, ein Vergleich zu den USA, die sich als ein ehrlicher Verkäufer präsentieren wollen. die er für einen verlängerten und exazerbierenden Konflikt kritisiert, indem er Arme in der Ukraine und im Mittleren Osten verkauft.
China's Foreign Ministry told us that the Belt and Road is an economic cooperation initiative, not a geopolitical tool, and that China provides financing to developing countries without attaching any political conditions. China's National Defense Research Committee and the State Council Information Office didn't respond to our request for comment for this episode.
Despite the challenges, Beijing is showing no signs of giving up on Belt and Road. Quite the opposite. China is learning from its experience. And while it's had to rein in its spending, it's lending more cautiously in an effort to ensure that the program continues.
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