Asia

Recent data shows growing pressure on China’s economy. Factory activity has slowed, the property sector is weak and export-focussed companies face trade barriers in developed markets. Because of this, many companies are looking outside China to expand and maintain stable earnings. China’s economic slowdown has begun to influence its outward investment plans, with India emerging as a potential destination for fresh capital flows. Several Chinese companies are exploring opportunities in the Indian market as domestic growth loses pace and external trade conditions become more restrictive. Recent data shows growing pressure on China’s economy. Factory activity has slowed, the property sector is weak and export-focussed companies face trade barriers in developed markets. Because of t...

China has been a major financier of African infrastructure over the past two decades, supporting large-scale projects in sectors such as hydropower, mining and rail. But this role is changing. As bilateral lending declines and the Belt and Road Initiative shifts towards a ‘small and beautiful’ approach, China’s infrastructure finance is increasingly shaped by new priorities – including digital and green technologies – and a more competitive global landscape. This paper takes a retrospective view of China’s infrastructure finance in Africa to draw policy lessons for today’s infrastructure investors. Using case studies across hydropower, rail, digital and renewable energy in Angola, Ethiopia, Guinea, Kenya and Zambia, it examines both the development impacts of Chinese-financed pr...

CKU Railway Company LLC, a joint venture formed by the People’s Republic of China (PRC), Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan and a syndicate of PRC banks, signed a loan agreement to finance the  $4.7 billion China–Kyrgyzstan–Uzbekistan (CKU) railway construction project on December 16 in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan (Times of Central Asia, December 17, 2025). Under the deal, the PRC will provide $2.3 billion, approximately half of the project’s cost, as a 35-year loan to be repaid by the joint venture company. The remaining amount will be provided by the three countries, with the PRC contributing 51 percent and Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan each contributing 24.5 percent. Speaking at the signing ceremony, Kyrgyzstan’s Deputy Chairman of the Cabinet of Ministers Bakyt Torobayev said, “This achievement ...

Britain and China will aim to revive a "golden era" business dialogue when Prime Minister Keir Starmer visits Beijing next week, three sources familiar with the initiative said, with top company executives from both sides invited to participate. AstraZeneca (AZN.L), opens new tab, BP (BP.L), opens new tab, HSBC (HSBA.L), opens new tab, Intercontinental Hotels Group (IHG.L), opens new tab, Jaguar Land Rover, Rolls Royce (RR.L), opens new tab, Schroders (SDR.L), opens new tab and Standard Chartered (STAN.L), opens new tab, are among the British firms set to join a revamped "UK-China CEO Council," said the sources, who are both Chinese and British. The council was originally conceived by then-Prime Minister Theresa May and then-Premier Li Keqiang in 2018, during a period of ties bo...