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Belt and Road Initiative

Belt and Road Initiative
The initiative spearheaded by the Chinese government and endorsed by President Xi Jinping in late 2013 aims to improve trade and economic integration across Asia, Europe, and Africa.
Pakistani hardline organisation Jamaat-ud-Dawa supporters burn a poster of then Indian home minister Rajnath Singh as he arrives in Lahore for a Saarc summit in Lahore on August 3, 2016. Photo: AFP
India-Pakistan tensions

Maldives’ plea to restart South Asian bloc hits India-Pakistan brick wall

Calls for reviving Saarc are likely to fall on deaf ears as long as the two neighbours are at loggerheads, analysts say.

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China-Africa relations

China’s Africa loan pivot turns it into a debt collector

Banking & finance

China’s CIPS to become settlement norm in Mongolia within 2 years: Golomt Bank

Hong Kong economy

How Xinjiang offers Hong Kong a bridge to Central Asia — and what the risks are

Xinjiang’s transport links and proximity to Central Asia can help Hong Kong expand in region, but Western sanctions create hurdles, analysts say.

Zhao Xin owns of a 113-hectare cotton field in Shihezi, Xinjiang. Photo: Edith Lin
Climate change

Macroscope | Who pays when overheated roads melt and rails buckle?

Costs are mounting from the damage caused by extreme weather on roads, railways, bridges and other basic infrastructure.

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Central Asia

China tests Central Asian land corridors to bypass maritime chokepoints

New Afghanistan link via Uzbekistan highlights diversification push, but critics ask if Taliban can ensure security for stable logistics.

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China trade

Beijing to upgrade railway freight services to Europe

Agreement to build first phase of a multifunctional terminal at Kuryk, a Kazakh port on the Caspian Sea, signed in Shanghai recently.

A China-Europe freight train leaves Xian, Shaanxi province, in November. Photo: Xinhua
Asean

China Unicom connects Hong Kong-Cambodia cable, widening undersea data network

The submarine cable project ties city with a high-speed data and information corridor running through Southeast Asia.

China economy

Opinion | China is growing its export channels with railways through Central Asia

Beijing is seeking to diversify its export channels as geopolitical tensions destabilise maritime trade hubs.

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China travel

China and Kazakhstan agree to add 28 round-trip flights a week

Officials meeting in Beijing also expanded list of approved Chinese cities to 11, including Chongqing.

A Kazakh government Airbus A320 lands at Astana airport in 2024. Photo: Shutterstock Images
Photography

The human faces of China’s belt and road strategy, through Liu Heung-shing’s lens

The Pulitzer-winning Hong Kong photojournalist trades megaproject metrics for intimate portraits of how China’s new Silk Road is rewiring everyday lives.

Engineers at the Kamoa-Kakula copper mine, in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Photo: Liu Heung-shing
Hong Kong economy

Mainland Chinese firms on Hong Kong-led Central Asia trip ‘eye city listing’

Hong Kong’s leader says city will press on as ‘superconnector’, ‘super value-adder’ to help them expand overseas amid geopolitical disruptions.

Belt and Road: Exclusives

Exclusive | Hong Kong and Shenzhen perfect end points for modern Silk Road: top economist

Economist Jeffrey Sachs, who is retracing Marco Polo’s journey to China, described the cities as the ‘world’s greatest innovation cluster’.

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Mainland China

Cabo Verde wows at World Cup – with an economic assist from China

From boots to building a stadium, China played a vital role in helping the West African nation qualify for football’s biggest tournament.

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Cabo Verde's football team arrive home in Praia yesterday from the United States and celebrate with their supporters despite their exit from the Fifa World Cup 2026 following a 3-2 extra-time defeat to Argentina. Photo: Reuters
China-Africa relations

China’s port role in Africa extends far beyond docks: study

The Africa Centre for Strategic Studies says Chinese firms are deeply embedded across the continent’s maritime networks.

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A cargo ship approaches Yantai port in eastern China’s Shandong province, a hub linked to Chinese‑financed shipping corridors connecting African port clusters. Photo: AFP
Central Asia

Opinion | In today’s ‘great game’, Central Asian nations are no longer prizes to be won

Instead of being caught between great powers, the five Central Asian nations are using hegemonic rivalries to advance their own interests.

China trade

China opens new Central Asia rail link to strengthen supply chain resilience

Beijing’s push to develop a transcontinental rail network has reduced exposure to naval chokepoints, analyst says.

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China trade

China cuts through Russia, Mideast instability with alternate cargo route

Middle Corridor through Kazakhstan and across Caspian Sea would have transit time of 15 to 18 days, compared with 45 to 60 for ocean routes.

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A photo taken on February 2 shows the first cross-Caspian Sea China-Europe freight train departing from the Nanchang International Land Port in Nanchang, in east China’s Jiangxi Province. Photo: Xinhua
Kazakhstan

China, Kazakhstan target deeper ties in minerals and energy at ‘Summer Davos’

At the high-profile forum, Beijing expressed its willingness to work with Astana on deepening cooperation in energy and mineral resources.

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Education in Hong Kong

Letters | Hong Kong excels at educating its youth. Now it must create the jobs to match

Readers discuss tapping the city’s competitive edge to expand opportunities abroad, the need for EV battery recycling plants, and reducing data centres’ carbon and water footprints.

Asean

Opinion | Beyond geopolitics: for Asean, China is a structural reality

Faced with the structural reality of China, Southeast Asia is trying to turn it into an advantage without losing control of its choices.

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China and Asean sign a free-trade upgrade protocol in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on October 28, 2025. Photo: Xinhua
Hong Kong economy

HKEX, Kazakhstan’s AIFC explore dual listings with miners after landmark debut

Head of Astana’s special financial zone says deals signed with Hong Kong during John Lee’s visit mark ‘important milestone’ for cooperation.

The Astana International Financial Centre is a special zine in Kazakhstan that uses common lew. Photo: AIFC
Diplomacy

Outside In | Central Asia is finally coming into its own

The region’s five countries, inadvertent beneficiaries of Chinese infrastructure investment, then wars and tariffs elsewhere, are finding their feet.

Hong Kong economy

Kazakhstan bank turns to Hong Kong as gateway to offshore renminbi finance

Chinese-backed Altyn Bank says Kazakh investors are turning to Hong Kong dim sum bonds to raise long-term capital for regional infrastructure.

Hong Kong economy

Opinion | Why Hong Kong and Kazakhstan are drawing closer

As Kazakhstan seeks to diversify its financial partnerships and deepen engagement with China, Hong Kong’s offerings stand out.

Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu visits the Astana Hub to learn about the latest Kazakh developments in artificial intelligence on June 1, in Kazakhstan. Photo: ISD
US-China relations

The new Panama? Why Nicaragua could be next front in US-China influence battle

Beijing could move to build an alternative to the Panama Canal in Nicaragua, before the US gets involved, scholar warns.

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A vessel transits the Panama Canal. China could move to build a rival waterway in Nicaragua, as it looks to counter pressure from the United States. Photo: Reuters
Japan

Macroscope | The problem with Japan’s bid to strengthen energy security, supply chains

By competing rather than dovetailing with the Belt and Road Initiative, the joint project with the World Bank reflects increasing regional fragmentation.

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China-Latin America relations

Opinion | China’s economic inroads in Latin America are hitting political walls

China’s economic gains in the Americas are real, but Donald Trump’s return to the White House shows that political success is another story.

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