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Coronavirus pandemic
EconomyGlobal Economy

Coronavirus: China’s belt and road plan hits roadblock as virus pinches supply of materials and workers

  • Despite tentative signs of economic recovery at home, projects under the Belt and Road Initiative remain cut off from vital Chinese materials and specialist labour
  • Supply chain disruptions are pushing out existing project timelines, including in Indonesia, Pakistan and Bangladesh, and adding uncertainty to new plans

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The Lotus Tower in Colombo, capital of Sri Lanka, was developed under China’s Belt and Road Initiative. Photo: Xinhua
Harry Pearl
China’s Belt and Road Initiative is struggling to shrug off the impact of supply chain ruptures, travel restrictions and stringent border controls caused by the coronavirus pandemic, as the spectre of project delays and cost overruns raises questions about the viability of future projects.
China’s economy has shown tentative signs of recovery after being battered by the coronavirus early in the year. Draconian containment restrictions are being lifted. Factories are beginning to hum again and electricity use is creeping up.

But flagship projects along China’s modern-day Silk Road, which seeks to link Asia, Europe and Africa with a network of ports, motorways and railways, are running into a host of problems.

In Indonesia, the pandemic is throwing up new obstacles to a US$6 billion high-speed rail line linking the capital Jakarta with the mountain-fringed city of Bandung, some 150km (90 miles) away, according to Kereta Cepat Indonesia-China (KCIC), the consortium of Chinese and Indonesian firms behind the project.

“The Covid-19 pandemic has caused delays in the delivery of imported material from China,” said Chandra Dwiputra, president director of KCIC. “Other than that, expert workers from China have not yet returned because the conditions aren’t yet favourable.”

Chinese workers made up about a fifth of the workforce, but government restrictions to contain the virus had prevented many of them from returning, he said.

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