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China's investment in the deep-sea ports of Myanmar and Cambodia will provide essential links in the Belt and Road Initiative (BIS), but they are also concerned to give China a undue economic weight in the region. In Myanmar's Bay of Bengal, Chinese state-owned companies have been given the go-ahead to build a $ 7.3 billion deep-water port and a $ 2.7 billion industrial zone in a special economic zone that would be held 70% by China and 30% from Myanmar. However, if Myanmar's costs turn out to be too high, it is feared that it will fall into the debt trap, as was the case of Sri Lanka, which, according to last year, transferred control of the port of Hambantota to China.
In addition to Myanmar, China also invests in Cambodia and several ports in Malaysia, including a planned deep-water port in Malacca, Malaysia, which was once the center of the former spice trade. The Melaka Gateway project will be jointly developed by Malaysian and Chinese companies.
China 's security concerns, particularly with respect to energy, are a key factor in these port developments and in others. More than 80% of Chinese maritime oil imports pass through the Strait of Malacca (between Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia) and the development of alternative routes in the region would help mitigate this risk.
China also has a strategic imperative integrated supply chains and investing in ports is an integral part of it. China already has direct holdings in ports that remove about two-thirds of the world's container volume. Chinese companies also own some of the largest container ships in the world, such as China COSCO Shipping, and invest in logistics, warehouses, industrial zones, railways, refineries and pipelines that feed the chain. 39; supply.
Of course, Southeast Asia is a major focus of this strategy as China is Asean's largest trading partner and nearly half of China's trade with the countries of the belt and the road is with Asean.
However, many challenges must be overcome. In Cambodia, Sihanoukville, where a deep water port and a special economic zone are funded by China, residents complain of having become a Chinese enclave. In Malaysia, the new government is reviewing all Chinese projects, including ports and the planned new rail link with Singapore. And in Sri Lanka, the port of Hambantota is far from a commercial success. These situations illustrate some of the challenges facing the Belt and Road initiative and the need to strike a balance between strategic objectives, economic imperatives and local needs.
Although China is not a major investor in Thai ports, the main deepwater port of Laem Chabang is being developed as part of the East Economic Corridor. Tenders for the development of the port will be held later in the year and, since it will be connected to the belt and the road, China will obviously have an interest.
Source: The Nation
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