The China Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) Investment Report 2025 has been released.
Summary of key findings – 2025 BRI Investment Report
– 2025 saw the highest BRI engagement ever for any year, with USD 128.4 billion in construction contracts and about USD 85.2 billion in investments;
– China’s energy related engagement in 2025 were the highest in any period since the BRI’s inception reaching USD93.9 billion, more than double than in 2024;
– China’s 2025 BRI energy engagement was the dirtiest and greenest:
– Oil and gas engagement surged to about USD71.5 billion, more than triple the previous record year 2024;
– Green energy engagement reached new records with USD 18.3 billion in wind, solar, and waste-to-energy projects and planned capacity of over 22 GW of green energy;
– China continued to invest in coal-related activities through various construction of coal mine infrastructure;
– Metals and mining sector reached new records surpassing 2024 (which itself was a record year) with about USD 32.6 billion – mostly through investments and in minerals processing (about USD 15 billion into mining) with a focus on Kazakhstan;
– Copper, in support of data centers, saw a significant surge of Chinese investment in the second half of 2025;
– The technology and manufacturing also broke records and reached almost USD 28.7 billion with high-tech engagements in data centers, EV batteries and in hydrogen (in Nigeria);
– Africa topped the rank of BRI engagement, reaching USD 61.2 billion, a plus of 283 percent; countries with the highest construction engagement were Nigeria (USD 24.6 billion), The Republic of Congo (USD 23.1 billion), Saudi Arabia (USD 19.8 billion), and Iraq (USD 4.5 billion);
– Part of Chinese Africa engagement may be explained by lower US tariffs in Africa compared to Asia;
– BRI investments in 2025 were driven by private sector companies, dominated by East Hope Group, Xinfa Group and Longi Green Energy; construction dominated by SOEs;
– Since its establishment in 2013, cumulative BRI engagement reached USD 1.399 trillion, with about USD 837 billion in construction contracts, and USD 561 billion in non-financial investments;
– For 2026, continued expansion of Chinese BRI engagement is expected, with a focus on energy, mining, and new technologies;
– Global trade and investment volatility will potentially spur further investment for supply chain resilience and alternative export markets for Chinese companies.
- The preceding summary is from Professor Christoph Nedopil Wang, the director of the Griffith Asia Institute and a Professor of Economics committed to drive the green economic transition in Asia and the Pacific.
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The full China Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) Investment Report 2025 can be found at: https://greenfdc.org/…/Nedopil-2026-China-BRI…
Source: Griffith Asia Institute (GAI) at Griffith University, Brisbane, Australia, in collaboration with the Green Finance & Development Center (GFDC), Fudan University, China.
