There's been a lot of discussion in recent years about the financial health of China's Belt and Road Initiative. Critics contend the BRI became overstretched, bankrupting borrowers and straining creditors suffering from a weakening Chinese economy.

Even the Chinese government sought to reframe the BRI with its "small yet beautiful" tagline to reflect a new era of purported austerity.

And while all of that was certainly true when it comes to state-backed Chinese entities that used to be at the forefront of the BRI, new data from Griffith University in Australia and the Green Finance and Development Center at Fudan University reveals that Chinese private enterprises are now leading the way.

Christoph Nedopil, director of the Griffith Asia Institute, joins Eric to review the 2025 BRI data and explain what led to a record year of BRI engagement around the world.

📌 Topics covered in this episode:

• China's Belt and Road investment surge in 2025
• Why the BRI narrative of decline no longer holds
• Africa's return as a top destination for Chinese investment
• The rise of fossil fuel projects alongside green energy
• How geopolitics and US trade policy shape BRI decisions
• The growing role of Chinese private companies overseas
• What the latest BRI data signals for the years ahead

Show Notes:

• Green Finance and Development Center: China Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) Investment Report 2025
• Financial Times: Beijing pours cash into Belt and Road financing in global resources grab by Edward White
• The Economist: China's Belt and Road Initiative is booming again

Join the Discussion:

X: @ChinaGSProject | @eric_olander

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As debate intensifies over the unraveling of the U.S.-led international order, sparked by Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney's stark remarks at Davos, small states are being forced to rethink how they survive and advance in an increasingly fragmented global system.

Carney captured the anxiety shared by many global leaders when he bluntly declared that the U.S.-led international order is over.

In this episode of the China Global South Podcast, Eric is joined by Sagar Prasai, an independent advisor to international development agencies, and Mandakini D. Surie, an independent development consultant with over two decades of experience across governments, NGOs, and think tanks. The discussion draws on their recent report examining how small states in South Asia are navigating a rapidly emerging multipolar world shaped in part by China's expanding role.

Building on their research, Prasai and Surie unpack the strategic calculations unfolding across Asia—dynamics that closely mirror the pressures facing smaller and developing countries across the Global South as they adapt to a shifting balance of power.

📌 Topics covered in this episode:

• Decline of the U.S.-led international order
• Small states' strategies in a multipolar world
• China's growing influence in South Asia
• Hedging, alignment, and strategic autonomy
• Lessons for the wider Global South

Join the Discussion:

X: @ChinaGSProject | @eric_olander

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The collapse of the post-war international system now underway will have a disproportionate impact on African countries that rely heavily on multilateral bodies like the UN. Beyond a pull-back of aid and humanitarian assistance, African countries must also contend with an increasingly hostile United States.

Dozens of African countries have been targeted by the Trump administration for visa restrictions, trade sanctions, and regularly denigrated by the president himself. At the same time, U.S. diplomats across the continent were ordered by the State Department in January to remind African governments to express more gratitude to the U.S. for its "generosity."

Judd Devermont, the former top Africa strategist at the White House during the Biden administration and now an operating partner at Kupanda Capital in Washington, joins Eric & Cobus to discuss the future of U.S.-Africa relations and China's expanding presence on the continent.

📌 Topics covered in this episode:

• China's sharp drop in Africa lending and what it signals
• Why big Chinese infrastructure projects are fading
• U.S. Africa relations after USAID and PEPFAR cuts
• The leaked State Department email and Africa as a "peripheral" priority
• America's collapsing credibility in Africa and beyond
• Why China is seen as an opportunity, not an ally
• Critical minerals and the limits of extractive diplomacy
• What the shifting U.S.-China-Africa balance means next

Show Notes:

• Post Strategy: On China by Judd Devermont
• The Guardian: Head of US Africa bureau urges staff to highlight US 'generosity' despite aid cuts by Aisha Down
• China Power Project: US-China-Africa Relations: A View from Africa by Lina Benabdallah

Join the Discussion:

X: @ChinaGSProject | @eric_olander | @stadenesque

Facebook: www.facebook.com/ChinaAfricaProject
YouTube: www.youtube.com/@ChinaGlobalSouth

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Follow CGSP in French and Spanish:

• French: www.projetafriquechine.com | @AfrikChine
• Spanish: www.chinalasamericas.com | @ChinaAmericas

Join us on Patreon!
Become a CGSP Patreon member and get all sorts of cool stuff, including our Week in Review report, an invitation to join monthly Zoom calls with Eric & Cobus, and even an awesome new CGSP Podcast mug! www.patreon.com/chinaglobalsouth