Belt and Road Monitor, Edition 10, 2025

This edition of the Belt and Road Monitor covers developments from 1 to 31 October 2025. If you enjoy our Belt and Road coverage, consider checking out Janes IntelTrak, a visual analytics tool that tracks and maps the global activities of Chinese and Russian companies in real time and includes expanded analysis of projects highlighted in "Top Developments." The Monitor draws from transactional data collected daily by our proprietary tool, Janes IntelTrak, as well as research compiled by our team of analysts.

Belt & Road at a glance

Value of all new BRI projects:

USD6.18 Billion

(Estimated)

Europe

the Region with the highest value of new bri projects

30%

Ratio of renewable energy projects to overall transactions

Largest new transaction USD2 Billion

wind turbine plant

Edinburgh, Scotland

Chinese BRI Transactions in USD Billions

Graph notes: These transactions include Chinese loans and grants but also contracts and subcontracts. Not all transactions will come to fruition, and this graphic does not account for cancellations, disruptions, failure to disburse funds, etc. This depicts the announced values of transactions with involving Chinese entities operating overseas, which could include Chinese funded projects but also foreign funded projects involving Chinese contractors, across multiple BRI-linked sectors.

Belt and Road Initiative top developments

China-Brazil Create USD1 Billion Joint Investment Fund
On 2 October 2025, the Export-Import Bank of China (China EXIM Bank) and Brazil’s Banco Nacional de Desenvolvimento Econômico e Social (BNDES) agreed to create a new investment fund to finance activities in energy, infrastructure, mining, agriculture, and artificial intelligence. BNDES pledged USD400 million towards the fund with China EXIM Bank committing the remaining USD600 million. The new fund is expected to begin operations in 2026 and evolved from an earlier agreement in December 2024 where the two parties signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to explore opportunities for co-investment in China and Brazil. The new investment fund is expected to operate in Brazilian reais.

China EXIM Bank’s Financing of Nigeria’s Power Grid Modernisation to Drive Growth of Chinese Investments
As of 7 October 2025, China is in discussions with the Nigerian government to finance the country’s national energy reforms. Nigeria is seeking to overhaul its energy sector, in part, to incentivise investment. China EXIM Bank is now considering a USD2 billion loan that would finance the modernisation of Nigeria’s power grid. The project would connect the eastern and western industrial bases of the country and is intended to encourage industrial firms to move away from self- generated power and return to the national grid, lowering operating costs for those companies.

China State Construction Engineering Corp. to Build COMESA Headquarters in Zambia
On 16 October 2025, China State Construction Engineering Corp. (CSCEC) signed a framework agreement with the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) to construct a headquarters complex in Lusaka, Zambia. The complex will include a headquarters building and a variety of mixed-use facilities. Chinese companies have also built the headquarters of the African Union, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), and the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention.

China and Punjab, Pakistan Sign a Series of Agricultural Agreements
On 18 October 2025, Chinese companies signed a series of agriculture sector agreements including five with the Agricultural Department of Punjab. Piesat Information Technology will integrate satellite-based systems and AI into agricultural processes, China Agricultural University signed two research agreements, Shandong Golddafeng Machinery will establish a tractor and harvester manufacturing plant, and the China Agricultural Machinery Distribution Association (CAMDA) will focus on agricultural modernisation. Similarly, Syngenta Pakistan will partner with the Government of Punjab towards the same objectives. China’s National Food and Strategic Reserves Administration also signed a research and collaboration agreement with the provincial government.

Hikvision to Partner with Dubai Police Force on Public Safety
On 19 October 2025, Hikvision signed an MoU with the Dubai Police to integrate the company’s AI and technical solutions with the police force’s field monitoring capabilities and more generally, to co-operate on public safety. Hikvision’s penetration into Dubai’s government sector is likely to lead to additional public sector contracts, which could give a company with close ties to the Chinese government potential access to sensitive security and personnel data.

New Project Locations by Value

What They're Saying

RAJA KRISHNAMOORTHI (D-IL), Ranking Member, House Select Committee on the Strategic Competition Between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) On the CCP's control of the global critical mineral supply chain.

“For decades, the CCP has systematically undercut competitors and distorted the global minerals markets to achieve dominance. Last month, with the announcement of its new rare earths export control regime, the CCP showed just how dangerous our dependence has become. Working with our allies around the world and environmental and labor rights stakeholders, America must usher in a new chapter when it comes to critical minerals and rare earths.”

By the Numbers