Nearly 200-country study shows China’s Belt and Road Initiative cuts debt and corruption

A study analysing data from hundreds of countries and regions suggests China’s Belt and Road Initiative is linked to better governance and economic development, according to researchers from Nanjing University.They found the trade and investment scheme – which spans Africa, Asia, Europe and beyond – was also associated with improved corruption control and that it reduced debt risks.The team – from the university’s Asia-pacific-development-studies" class="entity-link entity-organization" data-entity-id="184288" data-entity-type="organization">Centre for Asia-Pacific Development Studies and led by Mao Weizhun – said their findings challenged characterisations of the trade and infrastructure initiative as a “failure”, “vulnerability trap”, “road of corruption” or a “debt trap”.