China signs record US$213 billion of new ‘belt and road’ deals in 2025: report

China’s ambitious Belt and Road Initiative gained further traction in 2025, with a record US$213.5 billion of new deals signed as projects in metals, mining, fossil fuels and new technologies surged, a report by the Griffith Asia Institute has found.The value of new deals confirmed under China’s global infrastructure strategy rose 75 per cent last year compared with 2024, with a notable pivot towards investment in Africa and Central Asia, according to the report released on Sunday.China has now logged a cumulative US$1.4 trillion of investment and construction contracts with 150 countries under the Belt and Road Initiative since its launch in 2013, the research institute under the Australia-based Griffith University said.The country put a particular focus on energy last year, with deals in that sector accounting for 43 per cent of China’s total engagement, up by more than 10 percentage points from a year earlier, according to the report.It was both the “greenest and dirtiest” year on record for belt and road energy deals, the institute said. While investment in clean energy such as solar and wind rose to record levels, deals in fossil fuels also jumped nearly threefold year on year to reach US$71.5 billion.China’s focus shifted from energy generation towards fossil-fuel exploitation, processing facilities and pipeline projects, the report noted. Fossil fuel-related projects accounted for more than 74 per cent of China’s overseas energy engagement last year, the highest proportion since 2014.Mining and minerals were other major growth areas. China’s engagement in metals and mining rose to a record US$32.6 billion in 2025, with about 60 per cent of those deals concentrated in Kazakhstan – a Central Asian nation holding reserves of 15 rare earth elements.