One Belt One Road Initiatives in the Neighbourhood & Beyond Monthly Roundup

SECTION 1 – NEIGHBOURHOOD

Pakistan

1. The Pakistan government replaced Lt. Gen (retd) Asim Saleem Bajwa as chief of CPEC Authority, and Khalid Mansoor has been appointed as Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on CPEC Affairs with immediate effect.ⁱ

2. Karot Power Company, which is executing the hydropower project on the Jhelum River on a build-own-operate-transfer (BOOT) basis with the Chinese power company, said it has been facing serious problems in obtaining advance tax exemption orders at import stage from Pakistan’s Federal Bureau of Revenue.ⁱⁱ

Bangladesh

3. The EXIM Bank of China has provided a USD 1.2 billion loan to help Bangladesh fund the construction of the 35km Dhaka-Ashulia Elevated Expressway.ⁱⁱⁱ

4. Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina laid the foundation stone for the extension of a maritime airport runway in Cox's Bazar, which has been built by a joint venture of China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation and Changjiang Yichang Waterway Engineering Bureau. The Chinese firm will extend the existing 2,743-meter runway by 518 meters through coastal land reclamation from the Bay of Bengal.^iv

Myanmar

5. Myanmar received funds from China for 21 projects under the Lancang-Mekong Cooperation (LMC) Special Fund.^v

6. The first batch of cargo successfully arrived at Chengdu International Railway Port and was shipped by sea from Singapore to the Port of Yangon in Myanmar, transported by road to Lincang of Southwest China's Yunnan Province, and traveled by direct railway to Chengdu.^vi

Sri Lanka

7. Sri Lanka has signed a loan agreement with China worth USD 308 million to support its COVID-19 response, economic revival and financial stability.^vii

SECTION II – BEYOND THE NEIGHBOURHOOD

Southeast Asia

1. Singapore. A total of 19 cooperation projects were inked under China-Singapore (Chongqing) International Dedicated Connectivity (IDC) at the IDC Forum held in southwest China's Chongqing Municipality. The IDC provides a dedicated data channel between Singapore and Chongqing, offering a better network experience featuring lower latency, lower packet loss, and better network reliability.

2. Laos. Laos is expected to launch its section of the pan-Asia rail route that will eventually connect China to Singapore in December 2021. The Laos section of the route – a 414km, USD 5.9 billion high-speed line financed by China – will run half the length of the country, from Boten to Vientiane.^viii

3. Philippines. Facebook Inc and Amazon.com Inc have reportedly asked the US government for approval to operate a new undersea data cable between the Philippines and California after China Mobile agreed to exit the plan.^ix

Comments. The Pan-Asia rail route project is on track to become China’s first completed OBOR project in mainland Southeast Asia.

West Asia

4. Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia announced the establishment of the Saudi-Chinese eWTP Arabia Capital Fund to support Saudi's emerging technology companies. With a capital of about USD 400 million, the fund is in partnership with the Chinese eWTP backed by Alibaba and the Public Investment Fund, with the support of the Saudi Federation for Cybersecurity, Programming and Drones.^x

Eurasia

5. Russia.

(a) A new China-Europe freight train service was launched on 06 August 21, linking the city of Ordos in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region with Moscow in Russia. It is scheduled to arrive in Moscow in 15 days. Approximately 25 days are saved in transportation compared to shipping by sea.^xi

(b) The first railway bridge between China and Russia is reportedly about to go through its first test run. The 2.2km bridge will connect the countries across the Heilong River – known as the Amur in Russia – and the trial will run from August 26 to 28, according to project manager Lin Yonghan.^xii

(c) A direct maritime shipping route has been launched linking China's Jinzhou port with Vostochny in Russia to promote the development of Jinzhou port into a new land-sea passage in northeast China.^xiii

Oceania

6. Samoa. Samoan Prime Minister Fiame Naomi Mataafa  has confirmed she will cancel a China-backed port project. China's foreign ministry said that China held preliminary discussions with Samoa on the feasibility of building the port at the request of the former government.^xiv

Latin America

7. Peru. Officials from President Pedro Castillo’s administration have reportedly met with the Chinese ambassador and Chinese mining executives to discuss policies for industry and to strengthen a 2009 free trade agreement. Castillo will also be vaccinated with the Sinopharm vaccine.

Africa

8. Kenya. The Kenya Airports Authority (KAA) has dismissed claims it was preparing to pay a Chinese joint venture millions of dollars for no work done on a second terminal at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport.^xv The project was cancelled in March 2016 and was to cost approx. USD 500 million.

9. Democratic Republic of Congo. China Molybdenum Company announced a USD 2.51 billion plan to double copper and cobalt production at its massive Tenke Fungurume mine in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.^xvi

10. Zambia. Zambia commissioned the Simon Mwansa Kapwepwe International Airport, which was financed by the Exim Bank of China and designed and built by the AVIC International Holding Corporation.^xvii

11. FOCAC. AU Commissioner for Infrastructure and Energy Amani Abou-Zeid emphasized the need to make use of the approaching FOCAC meeting slated to be held in Senegal later this year for even stronger relations. The commissioner said, energy, infrastructure and the digital economy are potential areas for enhancing Africa's connectivity and integration and boosting bilateral partnerships, which thus will come to the spotlight during this year's FOCAC meeting.^xviii

Other Issues.

12. China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said China has delivered 350 million doses of vaccines to co-sponsors of the Initiative for Belt and Road Partnership on COVID-19 Vaccines Cooperation.^xix

13. A report from the London-based non-profit organisation Business & Human Rights Resource Centre found that a total of 679 allegations of human rights abuses involving Chinese companies operating abroad were recorded between 2013 and 2020. Of the 679 allegations recorded in the report, Myanmar had the highest number at 97 cases, followed by Peru with 60. Ecuador and Laos each accounted for 39 allegations. Cambodia and Indonesia also ranked highly, with 34 and 25 cases, respectively.^xx