Aung Gyi is forced to fish covertly under the shroud of night in western Myanmar waters as China bids to transform the strategically key region into a shipping and industrial hub, squeezing out locals who fear being left behind in the gold rush.Myanmar has declared Rakhine state, associated by many worldwide with the military’s 2017 bloody crackdown on Rohingya Muslims, open for business – but locals fear they are being left out of the gold rush as new rules restrict traditional practises.Pad

Carbon-heavy development in countries part of China’s Belt and Road Initiative could render the Paris climate goals unreachable, according to a new analysis on the gargantuan global infrastructure project released Monday.The massive network of ports, railways, roads and industrial parks spanning Asia, Africa, the Middle East and Europe will see trillions invested in new infrastructure across 126 countries. While the Chinese state is putting up a significant part of the cash, the proj

Last week, the Malaysia-China Business Council (MCBC) hosted the Malaysia-China Belt and Road Economic Cooperation Forum 2019.“With China’s advancements in digital economy and high-tech, and with Malaysia’s strengths in primary commodity and agriculture, we anticipate that more investors from China will invest in Malaysia.

Critics often claim that China is using its massive “Belt and Road Initiative” (BRI) as a form of coercive “debt-trap diplomacy” to exert control over the countries that join its transnational infrastructure investment scheme. This risk, as Deborah Brautigam of John Hopkins University recently noted, is often exaggerated by the media.

As we enter the Fourth Industrial Revolution and practically everything is moving online, the importance of e-commerce is heightened now more than ever before. E-commerce, in fact, is quickly becoming the primary mode of business and trade around the world - ASEAN included. When speaking of trade in and around ASEAN, there is little doubt that China and its Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) comes to mind.

Thousands of people in northern Myanmar took to the streets on Monday to protest against the proposed reinstatement of a Chinese-backed mega-dam they say will cause huge environmental damage and bring little benefit to the country.The protest came just days ahead of a trip by civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi to Beijing for a summit on China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).Myanmar's former military junta signed a 2009 deal with Beijing to construct the Myitsone dam in Kachin state.B

Malaysia will revive a US$34 billion Chinese-backed transport and property development that was abandoned in 2017, the prime minister said Friday, adding the project would contribute to Beijing’s global infrastructure drive.The announcement came after the countries agreed this month to resume work on a previously suspended railway project in Malaysia, and is the latest sign of improving ties after a rocky period.The 140-billion-ringgit (US$34 billion) Bandar Malaysia development in Kuala Lump

Indonesia has become the latest election battleground for Beijing's soaring economic clout, as the opposition warns pro-China policies are saddling the mineral-rich archipelago with bad debt as it is sold off piecemeal to foreign interests.Business links with top trade partner China have been thrust into the spotlight by ex-general Prabowo Subianto who is challenging Indonesian leader Joko Widodo for the presidency of Southeast Asia's largest economy on Wednesday.Trailing by double

The Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) is set for a revamp, and it is squarely aimed at countering China’s growing geopolitical influence.

Thailand’s Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC) is slated to become an arterial node for trade, investment, and regional transportation, besides also serving as a strategic gateway to the Southeast Asian region.