The Indian Express | BRI’s debt trap and China’s expanding footprint

When Beijing’s flagship Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) marked its decadal milestone in October 2023, Chinese President Xi Jinping said, “Viewing others’ development as a threat or taking economic interdependence as a risk will not make one’s own life better or speed up one’s development.” However, instead of mutually-beneficial interdependence, China today has managed to make 140 countries highly asymmetrically dependent on it for economic investment and trade. Many of these dependencies are a result of the over $1.175 trillion worth of construction contracts and non-financial investments Beijing has undertaken under the BRI. Now, analysts suggest that loans to the tune of a whopping $35 billion may be up for repayment in 2025, and most countries affected are financially vulnerable, developing economies.

By Anushka Saxena

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