Report reveals that China's Belt and Road Initiative is facing challenges due to corruption and political opposition.

The FDD report claims that China's Belt and Road Initiative has not met Beijing's initial ambitious objectives.

Beijing's ambitious infrastructure program, the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), marked its 10-year anniversary, aiming to link emerging markets and connect Asia with Europe and other parts of the world.

The BRI, launched by President Xi Jinping in 2013, aimed to replicate the economic and political impact of the Silk Road. However, a report titled "Tightening the Belt or End of the Road? China’s BRI at 10" argues that the BRI has caused social, economic, and environmental damage, and massive corruption has generated a political backlash against both China and the governments that took Beijing's money.

In Ecuador, Zambia, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, a report examined case studies and found that corruption and waste were widespread in China's development funding, while the debt incurred by participating countries caused significant harm.

The BRI aimed to tackle pressing issues by releasing a trillion dollars in capital for infrastructure development in emerging markets, which in turn helped local communities economically. However, in reality, the BRI did not meet its intended objectives.

Unfortunately, productive assets were constructed with one hand while vanity projects were constructed with the other, inaccurate cost projections and risk planning resulted in unnecessary or subpar infrastructure, and transparent loans at market rates exacerbated debt distress for countries that were already struggling financially, according to Josh Birenbaum, co-author of the report and deputy director of FDD’s Center on Economic and Financial Power, who spoke to Planet Chronicle Digital.

The Chinese Communist Party is not transparent about how it spends money, according to critics. The report highlights that bureaucratic opacity makes it difficult for independent analysts to determine when projects are failing. Additionally, Beijing is hesitant to establish monitoring agencies to ensure that money is being used effectively.

Failing to deliver infrastructure in exchange for mining rights in the Democratic Republic of Congo and the corruption-ridden Coco Coda Sinclair dam in Ecuador, built at the foot of an active volcano and suffering from massive cracks in its foundation, are examples of the corruption and poor infrastructure that Elaine Dezenski, senior director and head of the Center on Economic and Financial Power at FDD, highlighted in her conversation with Planet Chronicle Digital.

Many borrower countries were left with rapacious Chinese entities that partnered with corrupt officials to advance their own narrow interests, resulting in high-profile, low-quality projects that were often unneeded, poorly thought out, or defectively constructed.

China's efforts to enhance its global image were hindered by BRI's disappointing outcomes, which resulted in reputational harm. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, the only G-7 member to support the BRI, announced Italy's withdrawal from Xi's initiative. According to Dezenski, China increased its exports to Italy but failed to provide equal opportunities for Italian exports.

Italy's decision to restrict the CCP's influence in its markets should be commended, according to Planet Chronicle Digital's source, Dezenski.

To counter China's growing influence in developing nations, the report suggests that the U.S. and its allies should have a stronger presence by providing direct support and advancing projects of strategic value. The U.S. can achieve this by accelerating the work of the bipartisan BUILD Act, which was passed by Congress in 2019 and established the Development Finance Corporation, allowing the government to invest in global infrastructure.

The report suggests that the United States and its partners can create a strategic investment plan that emphasizes transparency, economic sustainability, and equitable partnerships, amidst the challenges of Chinese opacity, corruption, and debt.