GAO Report on China's Belt & Road Initiative

The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) report highlights the substantial investments China is making through the world’s largest infrastructure finance program, the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).

From 2013 to 2021, China has provided $679 billion for infrastructure projects through the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), while the U.S. provided $76 billion in the same sectors.

Projects financed through the BRI include power plants, railways, highways, ports, and telecommunications infrastructure.

Russia was the largest recipient of BRI assistance during the period, while. Mozambique was the largest recipient of U.S. assistance.

Contributors to the report identified challenges to US competitiveness includeing the "lack of a public national strategy to guide and prioritize" U.S. efforts and the "fragmentation of foreign assistance efforts" across several federal agencies.

“This report reiterates what I have been warning about for years," said House Foreign Affairs Chair Michael McCaul.  "China’s Belt and Road Initiative is outpacing U.S. efforts to build strong economic ties with other nations. Congress must pass my bipartisan bill, the DFC Modernization and Reauthorization Act, as quickly as possible and get it to the president’s desk for signature."

The report was commissioned as part of the fiscal year 2023 NDAA to assess the effects of BRI projects on host countries and U.S. interests. Some key takeaways from the report are:

• From 2013 to 2021, China significantly outpaced American investment, putting $603 billion towards investment projects through its BRI compared to the U.S.’s $70 billion.
• From 2013 to 2021, China provided about $346 billion to low-income and lower middle-income countries, and about $332 billion to upper middle-income and other countries. Russia was the largest recipient of BRI assistance, receiving approximately $104 billion from 2013 to 2021, or about 15% of the estimated BRI total.
• Chinese banks are now the world’s largest source of financing for coal-fired power plants.
• China is now the world’s largest debt collector, with low-income countries owing China between $1.1 trillion to $1.5 trillion in debt.

[Report]