Quick Take: Belt and Road Forum Attempts to Address Growing Criticism

President Xi Jinping presided over China’s Second Belt and Road Forum last week in Beijing amidst growing international criticism. Here’s our quick take on what you need to know.

China-Egypt Tourism surges solidifying bilateral ties

Few nations boast a richer cultural lineage than China or Egypt. To draw a line from their present to their past is to trace the evolution of human civilization. Despite this shared global relevance, until recently the two nations have remained isolated by geographical circumstance. Now that is beginning to change as Chinese tourists flock to Egypt in record numbers.

How China is winning over the Middle East

As President Xi Jinping impels China to take a more active role internationally, the Middle East is becoming one of its key staging grounds. At a gathering of 21 Arab nations in Beijing this month, Xi pledged billions pledged billions in loans and financial aid to support economic development in these countries. At this Arab Summit, well attended by foreign ministers from across the Arab speaking world, the Chinese government successfully elevated their relationship with the region to a “strategic partnership.” Read more about this growing relationship.

B&R helps China firms to expand in overseas markets

After years of development, the Belt and Road Initiative is increasingly helping Chinese companies to go global, besides driving regional and global economic growth, said the top executive of Basilinna, a US-based strategic business consulting firm. Deborah Lehr, CEO and founding partner of Basilinna and vice-chairman of The Paulson Institute, a Chicago-based think tank and research institution, said Chinese companies are now ramping up their efforts to expand overseas.

Egyptian drivers hold the key to cleaner air

As the slow wheels of government inch toward policies that lead to cleaner air, Egyptian drivers could hold the key to a faster result, with the answer provided by an unlikely partner – Chinese auto companies. The steadily growing demand for ground transportation has Egypt facing fast growing levels of greenhouse gas emissions, with 50 percent stemming just from vehicles.

Egyptian Drivers Hold The Key to Cleaner Air

Greening the Belt and Road: opportunities for Egypt

Much has been made of China’s grand building plan for the Belt and Road Initiative, but little attention is focused on the “green” standards that China is proposing to receive this investment. Launched in 2013 by China’s President Xi Jinping, the B&R is a one-trillion-dollar plan to finance infrastructure investments spanning over 60 countries and covering three quarters of the world’s population.

What they say

China has an intersection of craftsmanship and computer science, (which is) rarely found in other places. Many companies see China as a big market, but for us the main attraction is the quality of people. We have now about 2 million application developers in China (on Apple's App Store).

Basilinna's President for China joins Hank Paulson at Tsinghua to Speak on B&R

The Paulson Institute and the Center for Finance and Development of Tsinghua University National Institute of Financial Research co-hosted a roundtable discussion on Belt & Road and Green Finance in Beijing, which is one of a series of roundtable discussions on green finance.

A Chinese helping hand

China is aggressively expanding in key regions and commercial sectors as the country seeks to become a global economic leader. Chinese President Xi Jinping has launched his signature foreign policy programme, the Belt and Road Initiative (B&R), to finance projects and programmes along a modern Silk Road and solidify ties with governments from Asia and Africa to the Middle East and Europe.

China flexes its economic muscles to push green finance on the New Silk Road

China’s “Belt and Road Initiative” is likely to transform trading routes from Asia to Africa, the Middle East to Russia. With the world’s largest foreign reserves and a determination to build political and economic ties with strategically important governments, China is helping finance much-needed major infrastructure projects along the modern Silk Road.

China further tightens outbound investment

In early September, the Chinese government released a new guideline that further tightened the grip on outbound direct investment (ODI) in key sectors. This move to mitigate the financial stability risks posed by a frenzy of what the government calls "irrational overseas investment" followed on the heels of several strict controls on capital outflows.

China-Arab political and economic ties strengthen, thanks to B&R

The China-Arab States Expo is a four-day event that has assembled executives from the countries along the Belt and Road. This year, more than 1,000 companies are being represented by executives at the conference, and nearly 5,000 exhibitors from 31 different industries, ranging from tech to transportation, are present as well.

Opportunities abound along the modern silk road

While China has announced it will restrict investments overseas to control capital outflows, it is encouraging investment projects that are linked to President Xi Jinping's One Belt One Road (OBOR) initiative. Chinese investments in the OBOR countries totaled $33 billion in the first seven months of 2017, already $2 billion higher than all of 2016.

The Middle East is the hub for China’s modern silk road

For nearly 600 years, under the imperial tributary system of the Ming and Qing dynasties, foreign “barbarians” travelled to Beijing to kowtow to the emperor in order to trade with China.

Basilinna co-hosts "One-Belt-One-Road Investment: Historic Opportunities for Chinese Firms" roundtable in Beijing with CAETEC

In cooperation with the China Europe Association for Trade and Economic Cooperation, Basilinna hosted the Investment Roundtable in Beijing on May 18 to highlight investment opportunities in Egypt. The event featured Basilinna's partner, Income, Egypt's premier consultancy and investment advisory firm, which presented the incentives for foreign investment as well as specific investment opportunities in Egypt, Africa and the broader Middle East.

Quick Take: U.S. positions firms for Belt and Road "Project of the Century"

In typical Chinese fashion, this week’s Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation went off in a big way in Beijing. On May 14 and 15, 1,500 delegates from over 130 nations -- represented by 29 foreign heads of state and more than 200 ministers -- participated in the Forum. The Chinese Government announced 270 deliverables and $124 billion in new investment.

China in the Middle East: The Silk Road ahead

Basilinna was a part of MEI's roundtable that gathered experts on China and the Middle East and Northern Africa (MENA) region to focus on the growing political and economic ties between the countries as well as the implications of these growing ties on U.S.-China/U.S.-MENA relations.

Sisi Follows the New Silk Road to Riches

When Egypt recognized the People’s Republic of China in 1956 — the first Middle Eastern and African country to do so — it ushered the fledgling communist country into the broader international community beyond the Soviet bloc