China's investments in countries that are part of its Belt & Road scheme saw a small decline in the six months to June, with Russia, Sri Lanka and Egypt getting zero investments, the report said.

Official lending between 2000 and 2017 totalled more than $125 billion, the FT said, but no deals had been struck this year,

Opened to traffic on December 3, 2021, the China-Laos Railway stretches over 1,000km and links Kunming, capital of southwest China's Yunnan Province, to Laotian capital Vientiane

Beijing signed deals totalling $10.5 billion in new construction contracts in Iraq last year, part of its greater engagement towards the Middle East

President Gotabaya Rajapaksa asks Wang Yi for help to restructure debt repayments so South Asian nation can avoid a major financial crisis, after billions lavished on 'low return' projects

China's foreign minister Wang Yi on Saturday pledged $63 million in grants to the Maldives for infrastructure projects, in a bid to deepen cooperation between the two countries.

Beijing has lent African countries billions of dollars as part of the BRI, including $5 billion for construction of a link from the Kenyan port of Mombasa

EU plans to invest 300 billion euros globally by 2027 in infrastructure and digital projects to boost supply chains, plus climate projects and be a 'better alternative' to China's Belt and Road Initiative

Trade with its three main international trade partners - Vietnam, Malaysia and Thailand - rose over 2020 according to official data