Coronavirus pandemic | China’s Belt and Road Initiative in limbo, says report

The projects run the risk of remaining incomplete or being abandoned if uncertainties around the COVID-19 pandemic persist.

Moneycontrol News

April 07, 2020 / 15:13 IST

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China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) seems to be another casualty of the coronavirus pandemic with various projects getting stuck as the world battles the deadly outbreak, the Economic Times has reported.

Thousands of workers are unable to re-join work, with Chinese citizens facing a travel ban in 130 countries. Project in Asia and Europe and even along the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor have come to a standstill, said the report.

Cambodia’s Sihanoukville Special Economic Zone and works in Malaysia, Myanmar and Indonesia were among the other projects that had halted, sources told the paper.

Moneycontrol could not independently verify the report.

The Belt and Road Initiative is the modern Silk Road that aims to link China with the rest of Asia, Europe and beyond through is a network of rail, road and ports.

COVID-19 Vaccine

Frequently Asked Questions

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A vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. A vaccine not only induces immune response to protect people from any future COVID-19 infection, but also helps quickly build herd immunity to put an end to the pandemic. Herd immunity occurs when a sufficient percentage of a population becomes immune to a disease, making the spread of disease from person to person unlikely. The good news is that SARS-CoV-2 virus has been fairly stable, which increases the viability of a vaccine.

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