China Plans To Launch $16.3 Billion Fund To Finance New Silk Road

Map: China’s new Silk Road. Courtesy of Xinhua.

China is planning to launch a $16.3 billion fund to help finance the construction of infrastructure for its New Silk Road plan that will link the nation’s markets to three continents, Bloomberg reports.

The New Silk Road fund will be overseen by Chinese policy banks, such as the China Development Bank, Bloomberg reports, citing government officials familiar with the matter.

The fund will be used for financing infrastructure projects to construct and expand railways, roads, and pipelines in Chinese provinces to facilitate trade over land and shipping routes, Bloomberg reports, citing government officials.

The government officials told Bloomberg that there will be more policies introduced soon to encourage Chinese lenders to help finance such infrastructure projects across the nation along the new route.

The government officials also told Bloomberg that Chinese companies will be urged to invest in and bid for such project contracts.

China’s New Silk Road plan is comprised of a land-based belt and a maritime route and envisions an economic cooperation bloc aimed at reviving the old Silk Road.

The officials told Bloomberg that financing of the New Silk Road will be limited to the regions in the plan: Central Asia, the Middle East, South Asia, Southeast Asia, and parts of Europe.

Map: China’s new Silk Road. Courtesy of Xinhua.

A map published by Chinese state-run Xinhua news agency shows that the land-based Silk Road begins at the ancient capital city of Xi’an and stretches westward through Lanzhou and Urumqi, then shifts southwest across Central Asia, the Middle East, and Europe.

The map shows that the Maritime Silk Road runs through Guangdong and the Chinese province of Hainan through the Malacca Strait and Indian Ocean, then onward to the Horn of Africa before entering the Red Sea and Mediterranean.

Sources: Bloomberg, Xinhua