Belt and Road Initiative set to see more joint investments

Tourists ride camels on the Mingsha Sand Dunes during a visit to Crescent Moon Spring on the outskirts of Dunhuang county of northwest China's Gansu province. [Photo/China Daily]

Joint investments between State-owned enterprises (SOEs) and private firms can yield a better result in the Belt and Road Initiative, an industry report showed on Monday after tracking deals over the past two years.

Such teaming-up would help ease barriers for technology-related acquisitions and ensure sufficient capital, according to the outbound investment report released by China Bond Rating Co and Institute of World Economics and Politics of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

SOEs currently still take a leading role in Belt and Road investments, as projects focusing on energy, transportation and mining sectors take up over 70 percent and are capital intensive and of long return cycle, said the report.

Seven of the top 10 outbound Belt and Road investments were made by SOEs that were also Fortune 500 companies, it added.

ASEAN, Middle East and South Asia were most popular investment destinations along the routes, while Central and Eastern Europe saw exponential surges from a lower base, according to the report.

Direct investments made by Chinese firms in the economies along the routes stood at $115.68 billion by the end of 2015, accounting for 10.5 percent of the total outstanding amount.

The report expects Chinese investments along the routes of the initiative will continue to surge in 2017, flowing to sectors that match greatest local demand.