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The Hill
14-07-2025
- Business
- The Hill
China's Belt and Road 2.0: Smaller projects, bigger influence
On July 1, a cargo train from western China reached Chancay, Peru — a symbolic milestone in Beijing's quieter but sharper new global infrastructure strategy. As the Belt and Road Initiative evolves, ports, railways and data cables are replacing fanfare with functional dominance. Since late April, Guangzhou port has operated direct maritime routes to Chancay, slashing transport costs for Chinese and Latin American exporters by nearly 30 percent. With shipping times reduced, this once-sleepy fishing village has morphed into a logistical pivot point — and the latest jewel in China's infrastructure crown. COSCO Shipping, which owns a 60 percent stake in the Chancay port, has positioned the terminal as a regional logistics hub that will handle more than 1 million containers annually by 2030. This is the new face of Beijing's global strategy. Less about ribbon-cutting photo ops, more about rewiring the world. Over a decade since Chinese President Xi Jinping launched the Belt and Road Initiative, China has recalibrated. The era of splashy megaprojects is giving way to a quieter, greener — and strategically sharper — phase. Smart ports in Latin America. Fiber-optic corridors in Africa. Mangrove restoration hubs in Southeast Asia. All bearing the stamp of Chinese capital, code and connectivity. Call it Belt and Road 2.0. It's smaller, but smarter. And it's winning influence where traditional diplomacy is absent or distracted. By 2023, trade between China and Belt and Road nations exceeded $19 trillion, according to Chinese state media. But numbers alone don't tell the full story. China's strategy today is as much about norm-setting as it is about nation-building. It exports standards, embeds surveillance tech, and retools the political grammar of aid. A power plant might come with a data-sharing clause. A port might double as a security outpost. In East Africa, Chinese-built telecom backbones now carry not just bandwidth but also dependency. In Indonesia, mangrove preservation is coupled with carbon offset markets tied to Chinese firms. The lines between sustainability, surveillance and statecraft are increasingly blurred. This isn't pure altruism — but in many regions where Western efforts emphasize defense cooperation, China's civilian infrastructure push fills a different kind of vacuum. While the U.S.-led Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment and EU's Global Gateway have tried to compete, neither has matched Beijing's consistency or scale, often bogged down by fragmented execution or geopolitical caution. According to the latest figures, China has committed over $679 billion in global infrastructure financing under the Belt and Road Initiative, dwarfing the $76 billion invested by the U.S. in the same period. Since 2013, Chinese firms have completed 369 overseas power projects, totaling 156 gigawatts of installed capacity — 70 percent in Asia and 15 percent in Africa. These investments are quietly embedding China in the infrastructure and energy ecosystems of dozens of nations — in contrast to the reactive and fragmented posture of many Western countries. Initiatives like the U.S.-led Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment remain underpowered — in part because Washington continues to prioritize military alignment over sustained, civilian infrastructure engagement. And the expansion isn't limited to coastlines. In May 2025, China and Brazil began exploratory talks on building a transcontinental railway to connect Chancay to Brazil's interior — a move that would link Chinese-built Pacific infrastructure with Latin America's Atlantic trade routes. It's the kind of regional ambition that reflects how infrastructure — not military alignment — is increasingly defining influence in the Global South. China's newest approach is also more ambiguous. Several recent projects in the Pacific — purportedly civilian ports and airstrips — bear the hallmarks of dual-use design. Recent Chinese naval drills near Vanuatu, while drawing concern, also reflect a wider truth: Infrastructure often precedes presence — not necessarily conflict. Meanwhile, China's pivot to 'small and beautiful' projects is proving just as consequential. In 2024 alone, Beijing signed 340 new Belt and Road deals worth $121.8 billion, a 31 percent jump from the prior year. These include smart logistics hubs in Central Asia, AI-powered customs systems in East Africa and green hydrogen pilot zones in the Middle East. For Southeast Asia, where China is simultaneously a top trading partner and a digital infrastructure provider, the implications are particularly acute. The Philippines, Indonesia and Malaysia are already pilot sites for AI-linked port systems and fiber-optic corridors. China now controls between 40 percent and 100 percent of global processing capacity for critical minerals like lithium and rare earths — the materials behind electric vehicles, satellites and next-gen defense systems. In many parts of the Global South, this isn't about preference. It's about presence. And right now, only one actor is consistently showing up. Analysts have dubbed this the 'invisible infrastructure race,' where quiet logistics corridors and AI-linked ports are redefining global leverage — an approach Beijing has deliberately honed as part of what its planners call 'small but beautiful' connectivity. This is more than a diplomatic chess match. Infrastructure is fast becoming the currency of geopolitical alignment. Roads and railways don't just move goods — they mold futures. They determine whose software runs your grid, whose debt structures your economy, and whose version of governance fills the gaps. For countries in the Global South — many facing overlapping crises of climate, capacity and capital — Beijing is offering more than a lifeline. It's offering a blueprint. At the heart of this ambition lies a new initiative: in July, China and Brazil signed a memorandum of understanding to explore a 4,500-kilometer transcontinental railway that would connect Chancay on the Pacific with Brazil's Atlantic port of Ilhéus. The feasibility study — expected to take up to five years — reflects both the scale and strategic intent of Beijing's infrastructure diplomacy. Notably, planners have acknowledged the Amazon's ecological sensitivity, with proposals favoring southern routes that avoid deforestation and Indigenous lands. Countering China's infrastructure diplomacy isn't about building bigger — it's about building smarter. That means transparent financing and local capacity-building. Environmental integrity baked into every contract. And above all, projects that listen before they pave. As China prepares for the October 2025 Belt and Road Forum, it is expected to double down on digital and green integration. With corridors like Chancay and potential rail links to Brazil's Atlantic coast, the groundwork is being laid not just for trade, but for a redefinition of South–South alignment. The question for the West is whether it can offer an equally compelling alternative — one rooted not just in promises, but in presence. Imran Khalid is a physician and has a master's degree in international relations.
Reuters
02-07-2025
- Business
- Reuters
BHP inks charter contracts with COSCO for ammonia dual-fuelled vessels
SINGAPORE, July 2 (Reuters) - Australia's BHP Group ( opens new tab has signed contracts with China's COSCO Shipping for the charter of two ammonia dual-fuelled Newcastlemax bulk carriers, the mining giant said on Wednesday. The two vessels are expected to be delivered from 2028 and will be charted for five years. They will mainly be used to transport iron ore from Western Australia to Northeast Asia. These vessels can reduce greenhouse gas emissions by at least 50 per cent and up to 95 per cent on a per-voyage basis compared to a conventionally-fuelled voyage, if they run on lower or low-to-zero GHG emissions ammonia, according to BHP. The mining giant previously told Reuters that it plans to receive its first ammonia-fuelled bulk carrier from 2026 as part of the company's plans to cut shipping emissions. Ammonia is among several alternative fuels that shippers are exploring to cut carbon emissions, though adoption will take time to scale up.
Yahoo
02-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
BHP inks charter contracts with COSCO for ammonia dual-fuelled vessels
SINGAPORE (Reuters) -Australia's BHP Group has signed contracts with China's COSCO Shipping for the charter of two ammonia dual-fuelled Newcastlemax bulk carriers, the mining giant said on Wednesday. The two vessels are expected to be delivered from 2028 and will be charted for five years. They will mainly be used to transport iron ore from Western Australia to Northeast Asia. These vessels can reduce greenhouse gas emissions by at least 50 per cent and up to 95 per cent on a per-voyage basis compared to a conventionally-fuelled voyage, if they run on lower or low-to-zero GHG emissions ammonia, according to BHP. The mining giant previously told Reuters that it plans to receive its first ammonia-fuelled bulk carrier from 2026 as part of the company's plans to cut shipping emissions. Ammonia is among several alternative fuels that shippers are exploring to cut carbon emissions, though adoption will take time to scale up. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
CNBC
06-05-2025
- Business
- CNBC
Trump's trade tariffs take U.S. imports, exports to near Covid-level event: 'Haven't seen anything like this since 2020'
An empty container ship of COSCO Shipping sails to a container terminal in Qingdao in east China's Shandong province Wednesday, April 16, 2025. What began as a rapid drop in U.S. imports as shippers cut orders from manufacturing partners around the world has now extended into a nationwide export slump, with the U.S. agricultural sector and top farm products including soybeans, corn, and beef taking the hardest hit. Latest trade data shows that a slide in U.S. exports to the world, and China in particular, that began in January now extends to nearly every U.S. port, according to trade tracker Vizion, which analyzed U.S. export container bookings for the five-week period before the tariffs began and the five weeks after the tariffs took effect. The farming sector has been warning of a "crisis" and ports data is showing more evidence of lack of ability to move product out to global markets. Port of Oregon tops the list with a 51% decrease in exports, while Port of Tacoma, a large agricultural export port, has seen a 28% decrease. The port's top destinations for the corn, soybeans, and other ag exports include Japan, China, and South Korea. Some ports have only seen a small exports decrease to date, such as the Port of Houston and Port of Seattle, at 3% and 3.5%, respectively. But what is clear, according to Ben Tracy, vice president of strategic business development at Vizion, "is that nearly all of U.S. exports have taken a hit." The trade data shows declines of over 17% at the Port of Los Angeles, while the Port of Savannah — the top U.S. port for exporting containerized agricultural goods in 2025 — is down 13%, and the Port of Norfolk is down 12%, according to Vizion. The Port of Oakland also plays a significant role in exports as the leading port for international refrigerated goods. U.S. agricultural exports also leave Los Angeles, Long Beach, New York/New Jersey, Houston, and Seattle/ Tacoma. The slide in exports is linked to the decline in containerships coming to the U.S., as businesses across the economy cancel manufacturing orders, sending Chinese factories and freight ships into retreat. U.S. imports continue to decline, with port data tracked by Vizion showing a 43% week-over-week drop in containers from the week of April 21 to the week of April 28. "We haven't seen anything like this since the disruptions of summer 2020," said Kyle Henderson, CEO of Vizion. "That means goods expected to arrive in the next 6 to 8 weeks simply won't. With tariffs driving costs higher, small businesses are pausing orders. Products that once moved reliably are now twice as expensive, forcing importers into tough decisions," he said. 'Lean' retail inventories ahead Retailers have been urging consumers to buy sooner rather than later, and data from Bank of America Global Research suggests why that may be the right move. Its latest forecast shows that the number of inbound container ships to the Port of Los Angeles will see a sharp drop in May, with escalating trade disruptions between 15%-20% of U.S. container imports from Asia in the coming weeks. In a note to clients, Bank of America warned that the ratio of retail inventories to monthly sales was not especially high, while at the same time, consumers have been buying ahead with fears stoked by the trade war and expectations of higher prices and lack of product choice. Based on data Bank of America reviewed on retail payments to transportation and shipping companies, there has been no big ramp in inventories after the frontloading that occurred earlier this year, and supply disruptions may be looming. "We think it is possible retail inventories may actually look 'lean' in coming months," the Bank of America report stated. Many retailers only have one to two months of sales in inventory, it found, and any unforeseen demand or supply disruptions can quickly impact what goods retailers can offer and the prices charged, it concluded. It is a pivotal time of the year for the holiday shopping season, when orders are typically being placed. The supply chain's tipping point — where holiday success is either locked in or left to chance — is June. "Retailers that lock capacity now, especially in fast‑moving sectors like toys, consumer electronics, and fashion, give themselves the runway to fine‑tune assortments later without racing the clock," said Tim Robertson, CEO of DHL Global Forwarding. "It isn't about pushing extra volume; it's about sequencing the flow — balancing ocean, air and intermodal options, building buffers for labor or weather‑related surprises, and using real‑time data to pivot if demand shifts," he said. "The brands that treat June as a strategic deadline, rather than a last‑minute scramble, will be the ones filling shelves, not chasing them when consumers start shopping in November," he added. Captain Kipling Louttit, executive director of the Marine Exchange of Southern California, warned in a recent statement that the decrease in vessel arrivals and lighter container volumes coming to the U.S. will translated into excess capacity of labor, trucks, trains, and others in supply chain who "will be out of work because of the decline in cargo arrivals." Only 14 ships arrived in the past three days, Louttit noted, and only 10 are scheduled to arrive over the next 3 days. A "normal" level of activity in a three-day period would be 17 ships. Hawaii-based liner operator and shipowner Matson lowered its 2025 outlook on Monday, citing tariffs, global trade regulatory measures, the trajectory of the U.S. economy and other geopolitical issues. Matson, which offers an expedited service from China to Long Beach, California, reported that since the tariffs were implemented in April, container volume for the company has declined approximately 30% year over year. "Coupled with limited visibility to our container demand, we expect container volume and average rates in the second quarter to be lower year over year," said Matt Cox, Matson CEO, on its earnings call. "At the moment, it's difficult to know if these lower volume levels are transitory or will persist for a longer time in 2025 and the duration of this lower demand period will likely depend on active negotiations taking place across the supply chain, and the timing of potential amendments to the tariffs," he said. Cox said the company is working with Asia transshipment partners as its customers look at options to diversify and grow their manufacturing locations. "Many of our customers moved to a 'China plus one' strategy a few years ago to diversify their operations, and we expect this trend to continue," he said. "We will continue to follow our customers as they reposition and expand their manufacturing footprint in response to changing tariffs as part of our 'catchment basin' strategy in Asia," Cox added.
Arab News
29-04-2025
- Business
- Arab News
Saudia Cargo, Henan Aviation Group ink deal to bolster routes between Riyadh, Zhengzhou
RIYADH: Saudi Arabia and China are strengthening their air cargo cooperation through a new agreement to create a joint freight hub as part of the Air Silk Road initiative. The deal, inked between Saudia Cargo and Henan Aviation Group, will see new new routes opened between Riyadh and Zhengzhou, according to a statement. This correlates with the Saudi Aviation Strategy, which recognizes the need to increase air connectivity with key markets such as China as part of the Kingdom's goal of transporting 4.5 million tonnes of air cargo by 2030. The statement further highlighted that the agreement aims to 'support integrated logistics services and free trade zone development' and 'advance sustainability and cross-border e-commerce through logistics innovation.' It also seeks to explore investment opportunities in the high-tech and aviation sectors in Zhengzhou. The MoU came during a meeting held by President of the General Authority of Civil Aviation Abdulaziz bin Abdullah Al-Duailej in Riyadh with Henan Province Vice Governor Sun Shougang to bolster investments between the two countries, the Saudi Press Agency reported. During the discussion, the two sides discussed strengthening economic relations, focusing on fostering high-quality investments for leading firms and empowering the private sector to seize available opportunities. Both parties also explored enhancing Saudi-Chinese air transport in alignment with Vision 2030 and the Saudi Aviation Strategy. GACA also held a Saudi-Chinese roundtable to explore collaboration opportunities in logistics zones and air cargo. The meeting included the Chairman of China Henan Aviation Group, along with representatives from national carriers and logistics firms. The roundtable also included various Saudi government entities, such as the Ministry of Energy, the Ministry of Investment, and the Ministry of Transport and Logistic Services, as well as the Saudi General Authority of Foreign Trade, the Economic Cities and Special Zones Authority, the Industrial Center, and the Air Connectivity Program. The Chinese delegation conducted a field visit to the Special Integrated Logistics Zone in Riyadh and the cargo zones at King Abdulaziz International Airport in Jeddah, where they observed operational capabilities, cargo-handling facilities and zones, e-commerce shipments, and the digital capabilities and mechanisms in use. The delegation also visited King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh, where they toured the Airport Operations Control Center to observe the services provided as well as explored the commercial areas, and duty-free store. China's COSCO Shipping unveils Dammam office Chinese company COSCO Shipping has launched its first office in the Kingdom in Dammam in an attempt to enhance operational efficiency and logistical connectivity. This move also strengthens the firm's partnership with the Saudi Ports Authority, or Mawani, supports trade growth, and achieves the goals of the nation's Vision 2030 of consolidating the Kingdom's position as a global logistics hub. Saudi NHC continues house building deal with Chinese firm Saudi Arabia's National Housing Co. has extended its partnership with China State Construction Engineering Corporation, which aims to build 20,000 housing units within NHC destinations. The partnership has been realized through the launch of multiple projects across NHC sites in the Eastern Region, Riyadh, and Jeddah, delivering over 3,800 housing units. It comes as an extension of the Saudi-Chinese partnership series and several agreements signed with Chinese firms during the official visit to China by Minister Al-Hogail and NHC CEO Mohammed bin Saleh Al-Buty. NHC stated that the partnership extends its efforts to enhance the real estate supply and inject more housing units through quality partnerships with major international companies to establish urban destinations with high-quality standards across the Kingdom.
