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What does China's infrastructure masterplan mean for Asia?

The city's leading business areas such as Chiyoda, Minato and Shibuya are seeing a flurry of construction activity with up to 45 new skyscrapers planned.

June 21, 2017

The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) will do more than just build better trade links between China and Asia.

It will also transform cities in China and those along the BRI routes – from China’s Chengdu and Xi’an to Colombo’s Financial City in Sri Lanka and further afield in Southeast Asia through improved infrastructure and foreign investment in new real estate projects.

To make the plan a reality, China is spending around $150 billion a year on infrastructure developments in countries that link Asia with Europe via the old Silk Road. It’s a move that China believes will start “a new era of globalization.”

“Many of the BRI countries lack the financial capacity to develop the infrastructure themselves either by public or private means,” says JLL’s Director of Global Research, Jeremy Kelly. “The BRI makes a crucial difference. With the Chinese backing these infrastructure developments, it means opportunities to attract foreign investment and boost their economic development for these nations.”

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