Cover Hong Kong’s Tsing Ma Bridge serves as a platform for businesses engaged in Belt and Road Initiatives
Hong Kong’s Tsing Ma Bridge serves as a platform for businesses engaged in Belt and Road Initiatives
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From infrastructure and investment to tourism, technology and culture, Tatler traces how the Belt and Road Initiative is quietly reshaping the way the world moves, connects and grows
The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is China’s megaproject aiming to bolster economic links, including trade ties with other countries. These economic links were initially forged with infrastructure projects like railways, ports, highways and airports, mostly built by Chinese companies and largely funded by Chinese state-owned banks. Now, the BRI also includes services like education, tourism, e-commerce, environmental projects and poverty alleviation.
Chinese President Xi Jinping coined the term Belt and Road in 2013. During a visit to Kazakhstan in September that year, Xi mooted the concept of the “Silk Road Economic Belt” as a modern version of the ancient Silk Road, which ran from China through Central Asian nations like Kazakhstan and ended in Europe. The ancient Silk Road is estimated to have lasted from 200BC to the 15th century. In October 2013, during a visit to Indonesia, Xi proposed a Maritime Silk Road to connect China with countries like Indonesia through sea-based trade, as a modern update of the seaborne trade between Indonesia and China dating back at least 2,000 years. Combining the Silk Road Economic Belt with the Maritime Road, the concept of the Belt and Road Initiative, also known as “One Belt, One Road”, was born.
Since the BRI’s inception in 2013, Chinese financial institutions have provided a cumulative total of US$1.31 trillion in financial engagement, including loans and investment, to BRI projects in 150 countries, comprising US$775 billion in construction contracts and US$533 billion in non-financial investments, according to a July report from the Griffith Asia Institute at Griffith University in Australia.
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Above China-Laos Railway express train
Above Chancay seaport in Peru
China-Laos Railway express train
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Trade between China and BRI countries rose from US$2.7 trillion in 2021 to US$3.1 trillion in 2024, with an average annual growth rate of 4.7 per cent, Xinhua News Agency quoted Chinese vice commerce minister Li Chenggang as saying in July this year. The BRI trade accounted for 50.7 per cent of China’s foreign trade in 2024, up from 45.3 per cent in 2021. From 2021 to the first half of 2025, two-way investment between China and BRI countries amounted to more than US$240 billion, including over US$160 billion flowing into BRI countries and over US$80 billion into China, reports Xinhua.
Hong Kong plays an important role in the BRI as China’s international financial hub. With its well-established international financial system and legal system similar to the US and Commonwealth nations, Hong Kong is well placed to enable Chinese companies to expand abroad by providing loans, stock market listings, and accounting and corporate services to them.
![[url=http://www.istockphoto.com/file_closeup.php?id=17070044][img]http://www.istockphoto.com/file_thumbview_approve/17070044/1/istockphoto_17070044-exchange-square-hong-kong.jpg[/img][/url][url=http://www.istockphoto.com/file_closeup.php?id=17157251][img]http://www.istockphoto.com/file_thumbview_approve/17157251/1/istockphoto_17157251-chinese-flag.jpg[/img][/url][url=http://www.istockphoto.com/file_closeup.php?id=20919033][img]http://i.istockimg.com/file_thumbview_approve/20919033/1/stock-photo-20919033-cor](https://cdn.tatlerasia.com/tatlerasia/i/2025/10/03132133-gettyimages-184341680_500x750.jpg)
Above The exterior of Two Exchange Square, which houses the Hong Kong Stock Exchange
The exterior of Two Exchange Square, which houses the Hong Kong Stock Exchange
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The Hong Kong Stock Exchange, the fifth biggest in the world by market capitalisation, was the largest market for IPOs in the first half of 2025. Possessing an airport and port with many international connections, Hong Kong is a transport hub for trade and tourism between China and other countries.
One example of a BRI project is the 1,000km high-speed railway between Kunming, the capital of Yunnan province in southern China, and Vientiane, the capital of Laos. A Chinese state-owned bank, Export-Import Bank of China (Eximbank), provided most of the financing for the US$5.9 billion project. The main contractors of this railway were three Chinese state-owned enterprises (SOEs), Power Construction Corporation of China, China Railway Group and China Railway Construction Corporation. The railway began operations in December 2021.
Another BRI project is the US$3.5 billion deep-water port of Chancay in Peru, launched by Xi in November 2024. The port was built by a Peruvian-Chinese joint venture, Cosco Shipping Chancay Peru, which is majority-owned by a Chinese SOE, Cosco Shipping Ports. Chinese banks provided nearly US$1 billion in loans for this project.
Yet another example of a BRI project is the US$1.8 billion Mecca Metro, a light rail which transports pilgrims in the Muslim holy city of Mecca in Saudi Arabia. This light rail was built and operated by a Chinese SOE, China Railway Construction Corporation, and began operations in November 2010.
The BRI is an amorphous concept. A skyscraper built in the US by a private Chinese property developer can be labelled a BRI project, just as a light railway in Mecca built by a Chinese SOE can be classified as a BRI project. As the summit enters its second decade, the coming years will reveal how the network will continue to evolve.
