In this overview, Valentyn Krasnopiov analyzes the current state and development prospects of China’s Belt and Road Initiative. In recent years, particularly in 2024 and early 2025, this global infrastructure program has seen record investment and the launch of new strategic projects.
After a decline during the COVID-19 pandemic, when investments sharply contracted, China invested $122 billion in 2024 alone, and by the first half of 2025, investment reached $124 billion. The initiative focuses on constructing ports, railways, energy facilities, and digital networks across more than 150 countries, covering 75% of the world’s population.
The largest investments are directed toward countries in Africa, the Middle East, Central Asia, and parts of Europe. Key projects include the Chancay deepwater port in Peru, high-speed railways in Serbia, Hungary, and Indonesia, and large-scale energy projects in Nigeria, Iraq, and Kazakhstan.
China seeks new markets and raw material sources while expanding its economic influence in different world regions. This process, however, is accompanied by debt traps and increasing dependence of partner countries, drawing criticism from the West over project quality, deal transparency, and environmental impacts.
Unlike earlier stages, the initiative now relies more on private business, with most new deals pursued by private Chinese companies to reduce political risks. Still, much of the partner-country debt remains problematic, deepening economic reliance on China.
Experts say China’s strategy aims to create an alternative macroeconomic system independent of Western financial institutions. However, the situation remains dynamic and the long-term outcomes for both China and participating countries are uncertain.
