China’s BRI Runs Into Big Hurdles

Chinese President Xi Jinping’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), Beijing’s signature infrastructure project, was supposed to connect Asia, Africa, and Europe through a network of railroads and trade deals, solidifying China’s global influence, as reported by Bloomberg News.

A decade on, it has encountered a diplomatic impasse at the European border, and Italy has shown a keen interest in distancing itself from the initiative, now dubbed "BRIxit." I Photo: CGTN / PR Newswire

A decade on, it has encountered a diplomatic impasse at the European border, and Italy has shown a keen interest in distancing itself from the initiative, now dubbed "BRIxit."

More countries are contemplating leaving the initiative due to Beijing’s opaque debt policies and its monopoly on all projects, leaving them with no control over how loan proceeds are spent.

The absence of European leaders at this week’s Belt and Road Forum in Beijing indicates growing skepticism among Western democracies about what Xi once described as a "project of the century."

It is a project that primarily benefits China and not the host countries, which bear the financial burden.

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