Evan Comen
Over the past 10 years, no country has invested more in the rest of the world than China. Since commencing its Belt and Road Initiative in 2013, China has invested over $950 billion in infrastructure and other development projects over 140 countries, building roads and railways, cultivating energy supplies, and expanding its influence across the globe.
International ports are one of the largest and most controversial sectors of Chinese overseas spending. Over the last decade, China has invested more than $30 billion in overseas port development, allowing China to gain a critical foothold in key geopolitical hotspots. While the investments have spurred economic development in host countries and improved infrastructure around the world, they have also raised concerns about sovereignty and debt sustainability. Critics argue that many of the more vulnerable recipient countries risk falling into debt traps that may force them to cede strategic assets to China in order to repay loans, bolstering the Red Dragon’s global naval power. A closer look at the data reveals the key ports where overseas investment is allowing China to gain a strategic military foothold.
To determine the key strategic areas where China is building overseas ports, 24/7 Wall St. reviewed data on development projects financed by China in foreign countries from AidData, a research lab at the College of William & Mary. Ports were ranked based on the total, inflation-adjusted value of development projects funded by the Chinese government and state-owned institutions from 2000 to 2021.
Financial values were converted from original currencies to constant 2021 U.S. dollars and aggregated according to AidData recommendations. Supplemental data on primary investment sector and the largest project by amount invested were calculated from the AidData dataset. Investment per capita was calculated using population averages from 2000 to 2021 from the World Bank.
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