China infrastructure drive traps poor nations with $385 bn ‘hidden debt’: Study
BEIJING: China’s ambitious foreign infrastructure push has saddled poor nations with “hidden debt” worth $385 billion, and more than a third of the projects have been hit by alleged corruption scandals and protests, a study said Wednesday.
Research from international development research lab AidData said that opaque deals with state banks and companies under President Xi Jinping’s flagship investment drive — the Belt and Road Initiative — has left dozens of lower income governments strapped with debt that isn’t on their balance sheets.
China has invested more than $843 billion to build roads, bridges, ports and hospitals in some 163 nations since the programme was announced in 2013, including many countries across Africa and Central Asia.
