One of China's international program is the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). Besides the BRI, China has other programs that reflects China's broader strategy of international development cooperation and economic engagement.
Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB): This initiative aims to support the building of infrastructure in the Asia-Pacific region and beyond, promoting economic development and regional cooperation. BRICS New Development Bank: Established by the BRICS countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa), this bank aims to support public or private projects through loans, guarantees, equity participation, and other financial instruments. Forum on China–Africa Cooperation (FOCAC): This is the primary institutional vehicle for China's strategic engagement with Sub-Saharan Africa, focusing on economic cooperation and development. China EximBank and China Development Bank (CDB): These state policy banks play key roles in providing large resource-backed loans and project financing, supporting China's 'going out' policy by assisting Chinese companies in developing offshore businesses and foreign subsidiaries.
215 cooperation documents have been signed with 155 countries and 32 international organisations. The BRI, which launched in September 2013, is General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party and Chinese President Xi Jinping's "grand political-economic project". It affects three-quarters of the known energy reserves in the world.
Africa As of August 2022, China's official Belt and Road website lists 52 African countries who have signed onto an agreement or understanding with the One Belt One Road initiative. Africa is considered a key part of China's One Belt One Road efforts, due to its potential for rails, roads and energy. Many African countries are also in need of better infrastructure, which is still seen as a major barrier to development in the region. In 2020, only 43 percent of Africans had access to electricity, 48 percent had access to paved roads, and 6 percent of agricultural land was irrigated. China began many of its investment activities in the East Africa region, given its access to ports and need for rails and roads, but initiatives have since branched out to numerous projects across the continent. Major road infrastructure projects stretch to south and north Africa, such as Mozambique's Maputo–Katembe bridge and Algeria's Cherchell Ring Expressway Project. Belt and Road projects in Africa focus generally on transport and power but include variation within, from international rail and expressways, seaports, hydropower to carbon-based power, water supply and sanitation, and many other programs.
Subsequently, China's investments in the region have also risen significantly since the beginning of 2000, with total spending from the Chinese government and companies reaching US$23 billion in 2020. China is now the largest funder of infrastructure projects in Africa, financially backing around a fifth of all projects and constructing a third of them. A McKinsey & Company report estimates that more than 10,000 Chinese-owned firms operate in Africa, with about 90 percent privately owned. Numerous studies have shown that Chinese investment has had a positive effect on Africa, though growing debt has led to some states slightly pulling back on their plans. According to the Johns Hopkins China Africa Research Initiative, East African countries alone have borrowed more than $29 billion from China for various projects. Some countries like Djibouti, Kenya and Uganda have issued warnings over the ballooning debt, following the case of the Magampura Mahinda Rajapaksa Port transfer in Sri Lanka.
To build many of the construction projects, China has sent a large number of Chinese workers to developing countries. However, this has become a point of controversy especially in Africa, as high unemployment rates continue to hurt the large young population. Aside from economic activities, China has also shaped the Belt and Road as an opportunity to build cultural ties between Africa and China.
Algeria China is now developing Algeria's El Hamdania Central Port, Algeria's largest and first deep-water port and the second deep-water port in Africa. China also helped complete the 750-mile East-West Highway (Algeria) that connects Algeria with neighboring Morocco and Tunisia, and about 1,000 Chinese companies operate in Algeria, their way eased by the wavier of the "51/49" requirement.
Djibouti In total, the Export-Import Bank of China has lent approximately US$1 billion to Djibouti, funding nearly 40 percent of Djibouti's substantial infrastructure and investment projects.
Due to the Belt and Road initiative, Ethiopia and Djibouti are now bridged through the Addis Ababa–Djibouti Railway and Ethiopia-Djibouti Water Pipeline.
China's economic relations with Djibouti have extended to increased military involvement in the Horn of Africa region. Among the numerous Djibouti infrastructure projects, China built a military base and has deployed ships from its South Sea Fleet. Djibouti's base is a sign of China's growing naval presence across the globe. Meanwhile, China has argued that its anti-piracy missions from the Djibouti base has increased its capacity to support One Belt One Road projects.
Egypt Egypt has traditionally had a very strong relationship with China, so when China first announced its Belt and Road Initiative, Egypt was one of the first countries to sign onto the agreement. Following the instability from the 2011 Arab Spring protests, China was one of few countries willing to provide loans and financial support to Egypt. Since, China has introduced a number of projects including a Chinese industrial zone in the Gulf of Suez, an electric train system for its new capital, and investments in the Western Sahara. Egypt's New Administrative Capital is also a landmark for the Belt and Road Initiative. From 2015 to 2017, Egypt borrowed US$1.03 billion from China to finance various infrastructure projects. The same time period brought in around 1,900 workers from China to work on construction. The scale of China's projects and consistent Belt and Road activity has also strengthened diplomatic ties between Egypt and China. Chinese President and CCP General Secretary Xi Jinping and President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi have praised one another repeatedly for their efforts in the One Belt One Road initiative, and emphasized their shared history of ancient civilizations and infrastructure. Egypt is seen as a vital part of China's One Belt One Road initiative, due to its geographical position and close diplomatic relationship. In 2018, a Chinese consortium that included Shanghai Electric and Dongfang Electric won a tender for a 6,000 megawatt coal-fired electricity-generating plant in Hamrawein, on the Red Sea, with a bid of $4.4 billion. In February 2020, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, Egypt postponed indefinitely China-funded construction of the power plant at Hamrawein.
Ethiopia Ethiopia's Eastern Industrial Zone, in the town of Dukem, is a manufacturing hub outside Addis Ababa that was built by China through the China-Africa Development Fund and occupied by factories of Chinese manufacturers. According to Chinese media and the vice director of the industrial zone, there were 83 companies resident within the zone, of which 56 had started production. However, a study in Geoforum noted that the EIZ has yet to serve as a catalyst for Ethiopia's overall economic development due to many factors including poor infrastructure outside the zone. Discrepancies between the two countries' industries also mean that Ethiopia cannot benefit from direct technological transfer and innovation.
From October 2011 to February 2012, Chinese companies were contracted to supersede the century-old Ethio-Djibouti Railways by constructing a new electric standard gauge Addis Ababa–Djibouti Railway. The new railway line, stretching more than and travelling at , shortens the journey time between Addis Ababa and Djibouti from three days to about 12 hours. The first freight service began in November 2015 and passenger service followed in October 2016. On China–Ethiopia cooperation on international affairs, China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi said that China and Ethiopia are both developing countries, and both countries are faced with a complicated international environment. He stated that the partnership will be a model at the forefront of developing China–Africa relations.
Kenya In May 2014, Premier Li Keqiang signed a cooperation agreement with the Kenyan government to build the Mombasa–Nairobi Standard Gauge Railway connecting Mombasa to Nairobi. The railway cost US$3.2bn and was Kenya's biggest infrastructure project since independence. The railway was claimed to cut the journey time from Mombasa to Nairobi from 9 hours by bus or 12 hours on the previous railway to 4.5 hours. In May 2017, Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta called the 470 km railway a new chapter that "would begin to reshape the story of Kenya for the next 100 years". The project is seen as President Kenyatta's legacy project According to Kenya Railways Corporation, the railway carried 1.3 million Kenyans with a 96.7% seat occupancy and 600,000 tons of cargo in its first year of operation. Chinese media claim that the railway line boosted the country's GDP by 1.5% and created 46,000 jobs for locals and trained 1,600 railway professionals. However, in 2019, China suddenly stopped funding of its railway, about 75 miles short of Nairobi. Cease in funding came rather surprisingly, but may be attributed to rising concerns globally that "Belt and Road was loading poorer nations with unsustainable debt. Xi signaled in April that Beijing would exert more control over projects and tighten oversight."
Nigeria The Abuja-Kaduna railway line began commercial operation on 27 July 2016 after being constructed by China Civil Engineering Construction Company (CCECC). It is one of the first standard gauge railroad railway modernization projects (SGRMP) in Nigeria. This is the first part of the Lagos-Kano standard metrics project, which will connect the business centres of Nigeria with the economic activity centres of the northwestern part of the country.
In a resolution of the Johannesburg Summit of the China-Africa Cooperation Forum in 2015, the Chinese government promised to provide satellite television to 10,000 African villages. It is reported that each of the 1,000 selected villages in Nigeria, the most populous country in Africa, will receive two sets of solar projection television systems and a set of solar 32-inch digital TV integrated terminal systems. A total of 20,000 Nigerian rural families will benefit from the project. Kpaduma, an underdeveloped rural community on the edge of the Nigerian capital of Abuja, is familiar with analog TV and has no chance to see the satellite TV channels enjoyed by people in Nigerian towns. The implementation of the project will create more jobs, 1,000 Nigerians in selected villages have received training on how to install, recharge and operate satellite TV systems.
The first phase of the metro rail service in Lagos carried its first passengers on Monday, Sept 4, 2023. The Blue Line – built by China Civil Engineering Construction Corp – links the mainland part of the city where most people live with the more affluent Lagos Island, where many businesses are headquartered.
Sudan In Sudan, China has helped the country establish its oil industry and provided agricultural assistance for the cotton industry.
Future plans include developing railways, roads, ports, a nuclear power station, solar power farms and more dams for irrigation and electricity generation.