A maritime Silk Road for the 21st century, the Chinese government's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is now over a decade old and has grown to involve over 150 countries.

A trillion dollars has already been spent on the mammoth global infrastructure project, with official estimates suggesting the ongoing project could cost as much as $8 trillion.

That said, the BRI has been plagued with problems since its inception, and investment has become more selective, increasingly favoring smaller and less expensive green and digital projects.

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