China: Belt and Road Initiative

(asked on 28th April 2020) - View Source

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how much financial support the Government has made available for projects relating to China’s Belt and Road Initiative in each financial year since 2012-13.


Answered by
Nigel Adams Portrait
Nigel Adams
This question was answered on 5th May 2020

The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is a Chinese foreign policy initiative. There is no formal definition of what is or is not a 'BRI' project, but it is generally seen as comprising Chinese-led infrastructure projects in Asia, Eurasia, and Africa. I can confirm the UK government has not directly funded Chinese-led infrastructure projects in Asia, Africa or Eurasia since 2012-13. The UK government contributes to overseas infrastructure development in many ways, including direct financial support, and export credits for UK companies, and funding for multilateral development banks. The UK's engagement with China on overseas infrastructure development is focused on practical steps and collaboration to help ensure that projects are delivered in line with the highest economic, environmental, social and financial standards in order to deliver sustainable development outcomes and deliver opportunities for UK and international businesses.

Reticulating Splines