China built a huge global infrastructure program. Will COVID-19 topple it?
and globalization slows. The projects’ reliance on Chinese workers could also draw greater opposition from local populations worried about fresh waves of coronavirus infections.No major contracts have been canceled due to the pandemic, and the initiative is too important to Xi to be shelved. But seven years after the Chinese leaderof a modern Silk Road connecting continents, the future of travel and trade is uncertain.
Port City Colombo in Sri Lanka, shown in 2018, is one of many Chinese-backed projects worldwide that have stalled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Chinese state media have already begun trumpeting less costly global initiatives focused on technology and healthcare — moves that could further intensify China’s“The ultimate test of the BRI was always going to come when the global economy became less forgiving, and we’re in that environment now,” said“The rest of this year and beyond, China may spend more time renegotiating deals than negotiating new deals.
Beijing insists that the initiative remains on track and that “there is a solid foundation and great potential for further cooperation” with Belt and Road partners, according to a report in state media last week. Over the past decade, China became the world’s biggest development financier as state-owned banks backed costly building projects in risky markets —
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