Belt And Road Weekly Investor Intelligence #108

Tuesday, November 22, 2022     

Compiled by Chris Devonshire-Ellis 

Significant regional meetings involving China and BRI members have been taking place this past week, most recently with the East Asia Summit, among on-going discussions concerning the expansion of BRICS. We provide analysis of both. China ecommerce trade is up, while we give stats on booming Turkiye shipments, discuss Kyrgyzstan’s profitable financial services arena, while the Qatar FIFA World Cup sees East-West rivalries return amongst disappointing Western rhetoric. We complete the intelligence with an overview of the first China-Russia Amur railway crossing and our usual BRI global infrastructure media roundup.

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EAST ASIA SUMMIT     

The 17th East Asia Summit Declaration: Analysis & Opinion 

The 2022 East Asia Summit (EAS) concluded last week having been hosted by Cambodia. The EAS is a regional forum that includes the 10 ASEAN countries of Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam. Other members include Australia, China, India, Japan, New Zealand, and South Korea, along with Russia and the United States. The issued EAS Communique concentrated on Female Empowerment, SME Finance, and Volunteerism. We discuss the implications.

BRICS  

The BRICS is Expanding, Should The United States Be Concerned? 

A well-regarded video interview with Chris Devonshire-Ellis concerning the BRICS from Syriana.

Intra-BRICS 2022 trade 

With the BRICS in the news due to a considerable planned expansion of the bloc by another 13 nations, we look at the current intra-BRICS trade volumes – dominated by China.

CHINA       

China Ecommerce Exports Up 92.7% As BRI Countries Develop Mutual Digital Trade Engagement The rapidly developing Silk Road e-commerce volumes can be largely attributed to China’s efforts in a range of aspects. The country has established cross-border e-commerce comprehensive pilot zones and rolled out a series of supportive policies, expanding its list for cross-border e-commerce retail imports.

China Cargo To Turkiye Reaches 9.9 Million Tonnes Over 10M 2022  

Turkish ports handled 9.9 million tons of cargo from China from January through October 2022, the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure of Türkiye has said. According to the ministry, ships flying the Turkish flag delivered 36,655 tons of cargo, while ships under the flags of other countries – 9.7 million tons to local ports. During this period, 197,944 tons of transit cargo were transhipped by Chinese-flagged ships to Turkish ports. Meanwhile, 2.04 million tons of transit freight were delivered from China to Turkish ports.

CENTRAL ASIA  

Money To Be Made In Kyrgyzstan’s Financial Services Sector  

Kyrgyzstan’s financial sector has enjoyed a considerable increase in revenues from January through September 2022, according to the National Statistical Committee of Kyrgyzstan. According to them, in the first 9 months of this year, Kygyz financial organizations generated about US$888.1 million, an increase of about 1.6 times greater compared to the corresponding period of 2021.

MIDDLE EAST  

East-West Divides Reappear As Qatar Faces Intense Criticism Over FIFA World Cup Finals  

Much of the West has been incredibly divisive concerning the Qatar event, picking up on just about everything to throw verbal stones at the 2022 World Cup Finals. It is, in turn, a form of journalistic and political hooliganism.

RUSSIA       

Key Russia-China Border Railway Bridge Opens Across The Amur River 

Russia and China have commenced cross-border rail traffic across the first Amur River railway bridge, at the Nizhneleninskoye-Tongjiang border. The distance for transporting goods to the northern provinces of China will be reduced by more than 700 km compared to existing routes.

BRI GLOBAL        

China’s Belt and Road & Beyond         

A global media roundup of all the latest international news, analysis and opinion from the BRI.

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