BRI investment reaches record high in first half

Chinese construction contracts and investment in countries involved in the Belt and Road Initiative hit an all-time high in the first half of this year at $124 billion, higher than the $122-billion full-year figure for 2024, a latest report has revealed.

Experts from the Green Finance&Development Center of Fudan University's Fanhai International School of Finance in Shanghai and Australia-based Griffith University, who jointly released the report on Thursday, said that China's energy-related engagement in the BRI countries also touched a new record of $42 billion during the first six months of 2025, a 100 percent year-on-year increase. This could be further broken down into $9.7 billion in green sectors of wind, solar and waste-to-energy — the highest half-year figure since BRI's inception in 2013.

Furthermore, China helped to install 11.9 gigawatts of green energy capacity among BRI countries in the first six months. Construction projects related to green energy, including hydropower, were valued at $5.7 billion in the first half of this year, up from $4.4 billion during the same period in 2024. Chinese green energy and hydropower investment reached $3.1 billion in the first half of 2025, up from $1.3 billion during the same period last year.

Technology and manufacturing emerged as key growth sectors, with Chinese engagement in BRI countries totaling $23.2 billion in the first half, more than double the figure during the same period last year. The investments mainly focused on electric vehicle batteries and EV manufacturing, as well as significant engagement by Chinese solar power giant Longi Green Energy Technology in green hydrogen development in Nigeria, the report said.

Other notable technology engagements include a $2.1 billion investment made by China Aviation Lithium Battery in a lithium battery factory in Portugal and a $700-million photovoltaic glass production base in Egypt made by Xinyi Glass Holding.

Private enterprises played a bigger role in BRI investment. During the first six months of the year, East Hope Group, Xinfa Group, Longi Green Energy Technology and ByteDance — all private companies — were the four biggest investors for BRI engagement in the first half of this year. Sinopec, a State-owned enterprise, ranked fifth.

Christoph Nedopil Wang, founding director of FISF's Green Finance & Development Center, said that China's BRI engagement will focus on renewable energy, mining and new technologies for the rest of 2025, while the total pace is expected to stabilize.

"Global trade and investment volatility will potentially spur further investment for supply chain resilience and alternative export markets for Chinese companies," he said.

Manufacturing in new technologies such as batteries and renewable energy, trade-enabling infrastructure, information and communication technology, resource-backed deals as well as strategic projects such as railway and ports, will be the major areas for China's future BRI engagement, Wang added.

As the FISF study showed, cumulative BRI engagement amounted to $1.308 trillion since its inception in 2013, with about $775 billion directed to construction contracts and $533 billion contributed by non-financial investments.

Rebecca Ray, a senior academic researcher at Boston University's Global Development Policy Center, wrote in a June report with her team that for the first time, from 2020 to 2024, China's overseas development finance shifted away from direct project finance toward support of development finance intermediaries like national and regional development banks.

"Over the last decade, Chinese foreign direct investment has soared, both in absolute terms and relative to development finance. This shift may reflect a maturation of the BRI, as Chinese firms gain experience overseas and can take on project management themselves," Ray said.

Among specific countries and regions, Africa leads all regions at $39 billion in BRI-related investment in the first half of 2025, according to the report.

Africa recorded $30.5 billion in construction engagements, a significant increase from the $6.1 billion recorded during the same period in 2024.

Among African countries that benefited from BRI-related construction projects in the first half of the year, Nigeria was the leading recipient, attracting about $21 billion in investment — up from $206 million recorded during the same period in 2024. Tanzania followed with projects valued at $3.6 billion.

Nigeria is set to construct a $20 billion Ogidigben Gas Revolution Industrial Park in Delta State, a project expected to significantly advance the country's gas sector.

The project will be developed, constructed and financed by the China National Chemical Engineering Group Corporation, in partnership with Alpha GRIP Management Company. The two companies formalized their collaboration through an agreement signed in January.

The project positions Nigeria as the leading recipient of Chinese BRI energy investment globally, the report said.

Contact the writers at shijing@chinadaily.com.cn