BRI Investments in Renewable Energy: Outcomes and Perspectives

Zakić, Katarina (2023) BRI Investments in Renewable Energy: Outcomes and Perspectives. In: Conference Proceedings / The 3rd “Dialogues on China” International Academic Conference: New Chinese Initiatives for a Changing Global Security November 9-10, 2023, Belgrade. Institute of International Politics and Economics, Belgrade, pp. 199-217. ISBN 978-86-7067-321-2

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Abstract

The Belt and Road Initiative is celebrating its 10th anniversary in 2023, and it presents an opportunity to examine the achieved results within this format and see its strengths and weaknesses while at the same time evaluating potential prospects. Given the current political, economic, and environmental circumstances, this analysis focuses on investments in renewable energy within the BRI since its importance is increasing rapidly. The author used quantitative and qualitative descriptive analysis to study data from 2014-2022, and the database China Global Investment Tracker (American Enterprise Institute and Heritage Foundation) was used as the primary source of investment values. So far, through the BRI, China has invested the most in the energy sector and transportation projects. Investments in the traditional energy sector that uses coal, oil, and natural gas are significantly higher than those in renewable energy, and the main reason for that was the preferences of the involved countries. Renewable energy investments during the ten years followed the trend of other investments within the BRI. The highest volume of FDIs and loans in clean energy was registered in 2017, while the lowest was in 2021 and 2022. The analysis showed that China invested the most in Sub-Saharan Africa and East and West Asia. Pakistan, Laos, and Argentina were the top recipient countries. The author concludes that the increasing awareness of the importance of renewable energy and the rising global political, security, and economic volatility make sustainability and self-sufficiency more necessary. Due to those trends, investments in renewable energy within the BRI will increase in the near future, but the traditional energy sector will still be the leading one.

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