As the growth in China slows to a two-decade low, infrastructure development providers like cement and steel companies find the need to look beyond the borders of the country to Central Asia, Africa, and Russia. According to an article titled-'Russia and China in the age of grand Eurasian projects'-published on the Cambridge Journal of Eurasian Studies, 'The Belt and Road initiative makes
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2/18
China’s most prolific research areas are engineering followed by materials science and medicine. With a multi-discipline approach that includes engineering, design, and applied sciences, higher education in China has been voted as one of the best among the Asian countries. China has over 150 public and private-owned universities distributed over most of its provinces.
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3/18
Another important motivation behind the Belt and Road Initiative is to encourage economic development in China’s Xinjiang autonomous region, thus tackling the major problems of its Western provinces, including separatism, radical Islamism and terrorism, ethnic conflict, and underdevelopment. The government mapped its plans in 2015, aiming to make good use of Xinjiang’s geographical advant
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4/18
But President Xi’s vision isn't only about putting a physical infrastructure in place. Beneath the blueprint to create a contiguous land and maritime zone is China’s response to the more exclusive mega-economic blocks such as the ones led by US, in the current climate of protectionist backlash. It is a long-term project to secure China’s geo-strategic realm with obvious political and secu
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5/18
It will be an economic game-changer for Bangladesh when completed. China Railway Construction Corporation is building a 215 km Padma rail link project from Dhaka to Jessore, including the 6.5 km Padma multipurpose road-rail bridge at a cost of $3.15 billion. Mainly funded by a soft loan from China, the project includes the construction of 66 major bridges, 224 minor bridges, 14 new statio
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6/18
For many Kenyans seen at this newly-constructed Nairobi terminal, it is a historic moment. The just-inaugurated Standard Gauge Railway from the port city of Mombasa to capital Nairobi is its biggest infrastructure project since Kenya’s independence. Built by China at a cost of $3.2 billion in two and half years, it was mostly funded by China’s Exim Bank. The railway is a part of a master
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7/18
China is calling its military base in Djibouti an overseas logistics base. The location is a very strategic one: Djibouti, on the coast of Africa, at the mouth of the Red Sea, looking across at the Arabian Peninsula. Analysts say it may be China’s first major overseas military base. Seen here, a ceremony held before ships carrying Chinese military personnel depart for Djibouti.
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8/18
Hambantota Port: The latest news is that Sri Lanka wants to reduce China’s stake in the Hambantota port deal. The debt-laden but strategically located port was built at an estimated cost of $1.5 billion amidst other commitments, including the development of a 15,000 acre industrial zone and an airport to rebuild the island nation's infrastructure after a quarter century of war. To thwart
Image by Dinuka Liyanawatte/ Reuters
9/18
For the last several years, Kathmandu has faced up to 16 hours of power outage every day. Nepal has immense water resources but had lacked the know-how of harnessing hydropower. But the major deal with Chinese company China Gezhouba Group Corporation (CGGC) to develop a 1,200 MW Budhigandaki hydroelectric project will change that. The biggest hydro project, funded by loans from Chinese fi
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10/18
Villagers in northern Laos recall the arrival of Chinese investors a few years ago. The investors offered them good money to rent their untilled land and wanted to grow bananas on it. In impoverished Laos, the offer was generous. Three years later, the Chinese-driven banana boom has brought jobs and high wages, but pesticides and polluted water sources have left the locals with mixed feel
