Weekly News Roundup: Dispatches from the Silk Road Economic Belt

Exclusive: China may pare back 'divisive' eastern Europe summits

China is considering paring back annual summits with eastern European countries that have fueled concerns in western capitals that Beijing is seeking to divide the continent, according to three European diplomats. (Reuters)

'Gray-listing' pushes Pakistan further into China's orbit
Pakistan is set to become increasingly reliant on Chinese loans and investment now that the Financial Action Task Force, an inter-governmental anti-money laundering watchdog, has initiated a process to place the country back on a counter-terrorist financing watchlist, political and financial analysts say.

(Nikkei)

Pakistan Refutes IMF Report as It Eyes Bonds, China Funding

Pakistan’s de-facto finance minister refuted an International Monetary Fund assessment that the country’s economy was deteriorating and said plans to issue dollar bonds or Chinese-currency bonds haven’t been firmed up.The IMF in a statement this week said the South Asian nation’s economy faces continual “erosion” and its widening external and fiscal imbalances mean that “risks to Pakistan’s medium-term capacity to repay the fund have increased” since completion of a three-year $6.6 billion bailout program that ended in Sept. 2016. (bloomberg)

B&R initiative boosts Caucasus economies
The Caucasus region, which comprises Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan used to be an important region along the ancient Silk Road. The B&R initiative which comprises both land-based Silk Route and the oceangoing Maritime Route is aimed at not only boosting trade but also ensuring a comprehensive upgrade of infrastructure, business opportunities and with it, greater influx of tourists. Despite being an unconventional destination, Chinese travelers still venture into the region to experience something different from what they are used to. So what, who and how is China engaged
with in the Caucasus Region? (Global Times)

China's Zijin Mining interested in Serbian copper mine RTB, Belgrade says

China’s Zijin Mining Group Co. Ltd. has expressed interest in buying loss-making Serbian copper miner and smelter RTB Bor, which the Balkan state has been trying to sell for the past decade. (Reuters)

China’s belt and road plan is a major debt risk for weak economies, report says
China’s “Belt and Road Initiative” creates the potential for debt-sustainability problems in some of the world’s weakest economies, according to the Centre for Global Development. The infrastructure project – aimed at forging new economic links with Europe, Asia and Africa – puts Djibouti, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, the Maldives, Mongolia, Montenegro, Pakistan and Tajikistan “at particular risk of debt distress”, researchers at the Washington-based research institute said in a report on Sunday.
(scmp)

A Summer Vacation in China’s Muslim Gulag
How one university student was almost buried by the “people's war on terror.” (Foreign Policy)

Will China's Belt and Road Initiative Push Vulnerable Countries into a Debt Crisis?
Print
As China’s Communist Party paves the way for President Xi Jinping’s indefinite leadership, the international community should expect the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI)—President Xi’s signature global infrastructure plan spanning Asia, Europe, and Africa—to be further cemented as China’s primary strategy of global engagement for years to come. In a new CGD paper, we assess the likelihood of debt problems in the 68 countries we identify as potential BRI borrowers. (cgdev)

The Impact Of Gazprom’s China-Russia Gas Pipeline

Gazprom’s Power of Siberia pipeline is more than two-thirds complete. It will be delivering gas to China by the end of this year. A second pipeline is still under discussion.A report yesterday from Alex Mercouris at The Duran noted some frustration from China over the irregular liquefied natural gas (LNG) supplies coming from its contract partners in Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan. (Oilprice)

Itochu climbs aboard China's Belt and Road Initiative
Japanese company uses improved logistics to start Japan-Europe freight service. (Nikkei)

Kazakhstan getting ready for SCO Summit in Quingdao

Kazakhstan Ambassador to China Shakhrat Nuryshev has had a working visit to Quingdao, Shandong province, on March 1-3 within the framework of the upcoming participation of President Nursultan Nazarbayev in the SCO Summit in June 2018, Kazinform reporter in China reports. (kazinform)

China slows down spending on Belt and Road energy projects
China’s thirst for overseas energy investments is declining, at least by one tally. The nation’s financing for Belt and Road Initiative energy projects dropped 28 per cent to US$14.3 billion last year from US$19.9 billion, according to data released Monday by Boston University’s Global Development Policy Centre. (Scmp)

CENTRAL ASIA


Kazakhstan Grants US Access to Ports for Afghan-Bound Goods
By gaining access to Aktau and Kuryk, the United States will gain additional ways to circumvent Russia. (Eurasianet)

Uzbekistan Gives Full Backing to Tajikistan's Hydropower Project

President Shavkat Mirziyoyev told his Tajik counterpart Emomali Rahmon that Uzbekistan is willing to get involved across the board in the Tajik hydroelectric sector, and name-checked the highly contentious giant Roghun Dam. Construction at Roghun is now underway and according to optimistic Tajik estimates should begin to generate power by early as the end of this year. (Eurasianet)

Dordoi market checked for corrupt schemes
Kyrgyzstan's security service inspected #Dordoi #market for "corruption schemes." Theatricality of this is almost endearing considering that this market is one of the black holes through which #Chinese goods are re-exported in violation of #EEU rules. (24.kg)

$7.5 Billion Pipeline Has Surprise Patrons: Taliban Militants
After decades of talks, Afghanistan finally broke ground last month on a $7.5 billion gas pipeline that will run through areas controlled by the Taliban. Even more surprising: The militant group is backing the project.The Taliban “deems it its responsibility to revive foundational economic and reconstruction work in the country and asks international construction companies to help the Afghans in this regard,” Zabihullah Mujahed, a spokesman, said in a statement last month. (Bloomberg)