China has drastically curtailed the overseas lending programme of its two largest policy banks, after nearly a decade of ambitious growth which at its peak rivalled that of the World Bank, new research indicates.
Lending by the China Development Bank and the Export-Import Bank of China collapsed from a peak of $75bn in 2016 to just $4bn last year, according to data compiled by researchers at Boston University and seen by the Financial Times.
The sharp retrenchment comes as Beijing rethinks its Belt and Road Initiative, the signature scheme of China’s leader Xi Jinping that finances and builds roads, railways, ports and other infrastructure in mostly developing countries.