With $900 billion in potential foreign infrastructure spending under the BRI framework indicated by President Xi, China’s BRI could help – or hurt – clean energy development in emerging economics. But investment analysis by World Resources Institute and Boston University found that around 75% of investment in BRI countries from China’s state-owned banks between 2014 and 2017 poured into fossil fuel projects. Harnessing China's "Green Soft Power"So what policy approach should China take? For example, China's problem of overcapacity in coal-fired power plants might also soon appear in Central Asian BRI countries. Joint policy research and technical cooperation should lead the way to leverage China’s soft green power for a sustainable Belt and Road.

Source: Forbes May 14, 2019 11:37 UTC