SHANGHAI: New investment in Russia through Chinas Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) declined to zero in the first half of 2022, while Chinese outlays in Pakistan sunk by 56 percent during the same period, the media reported.

These are the conclusions of a recent report from the Green Finance and Development Center at Shanghai's Fudan University, according to RFE/RL, which indicate escalating challenges to Chinese President Xi Jinping's standout foreign policy initiative, which he once dubbed "the project of the century." The two countries that have benefited the most from Chinese development spending through the BRI are Russia and Pakistan.

Moscow concluded agreements worth around USD 2 billion in 2021 alone, and Islamabad is home to the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, a USD 62 billion network of infrastructure and energy projects (CPEC).

According to RFE/RL, the Fudan University report emphasises how the BRI is evolving as it responds to a number of factors, including the weakening global economy, China's shifting role in the world, and the fact that many of the nations that signed agreements and obtained loans through the initiative are now facing a worsening debt crisis.  As Beijing becomes more risk averse, BRI spending has been falling over several years. 

According to the research, Chinese investments in 147 BRI countries totaled USD 28.4 billion in the first half of 2022, down from USD 29.6 billion during the same period in 2017.

China has become the largest provider of development credit in the world thanks to the BRI's rapid growth since 2013, and how Beijing manages the program's future will have an impact on the entire world.

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