China’s Belt and Road Initiative will add US$117 billion to global trade this year, a new study shows

01/24/2019

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Finbarr Bermingham | South China Morning Post

  • Euler Hermes says nations targeted by the initiative will see higher trade volumes, even if they are yet to receive any direct investment from China
  • The trade insurer estimates that the Belt and Road Initiative resulted in US$460 billion worth of investments in the five years since its inception in 2013

Merchandise trade between China and the countries targeted by its “Belt and Road Initiative” is predicted to grow by US$117 billion this year, according to new analysis.

For China, this will mean US$56 billion in additional exports, while it will import an extra US$61 billion worth of goods from the 80 countries named in the Chinese government’s official manifesto, research from trade credit insurer Euler Hermes shows.

The report estimates that this will add 0.3 per cent to global trade and 0.1 per cent to global growth, at a time when fears are mounting about a slowdown across the world economy, but most notably in China.

[Read more here.]