China's Belt and Road Initiative

Dozens of countries in Asia, Africa, Europe and elsewhere are embracing China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), a $1 trillion program aimed at building a vast system of transportation, energy and telecommunications networks linking China to resources and markets worldwide. So far, 117 nations have received more than $400 billion in loans and investments from Beijing, whose state-owned construction companies are building roads, bridges, power plants and other projects. Chinese President Xi Jinping says the program seeks to help China and other countries strengthen their economies. But the massive infrastructure project — the largest in history — has sparked concerns that China is trapping poor nations in debt with the goal of forcing them to surrender strategic assets and that Xi's ultimate objective is to create a new world order in which China's norms and priorities prevail. To counter the BRI, the United States is readying a $60 billion development program that it argues will help recipient nations grow without becoming burdened with debts they cannot repay.