Iraq was a major target of China's Belt and Road Initiative

[size=52]Iraq was a major target of China's Belt and Road Initiative[/size]

[size=45]A study published by Reuters yesterday showed that Iraq was the "main target of the Chinese Belt and Road Initiative" in 2021, and received funding of about 10.5 billion dollars, for projects that include power plants.[/size]
[size=45]Serbia ranked second, and Indonesia ranked third, after Iraq, in terms of construction contracts under the initiative.[/size]
[size=45]In total, China's investment in the 144 countries covered by the initiative amounted to $59.5 billion, unchanged from $60.5 billion in 2020, according to the study conducted by the Center for Green Finance and Development at Fudan University in Shanghai.[/size]
[size=45]Investments in the Arab countries and the Middle East increased last year by about 360 percent, and construction projects by 116 percent, compared to 2020. And Iraq, in which the United States ended its military operations last year, became the third largest partner in the initiative of energy projects since 2013. , after Pakistan and Russia.[/size]
[size=45]China is cooperating with Iraq to build the “Al-Khairat Station” in Karbala Governorate, and the Chinese company Sinopec won a contract to develop the Mansouriya natural gas field near the border with Iran. The two countries are also cooperating to build an airport, a solar power plant and other projects.[/size]
[size=45]Financing and investment in renewable energy projects rose to $6.3 billion, compared to $6.2 billion in 2020, and China did not participate in coal projects in 2021, in line with Chinese President Xi Jinping's pledge not to build coal-fired plants abroad.[/size]
[size=45]For the current year, researchers expect to “accelerate” renewable energy projects, in line with government guidelines, although oil-related financing and investment under the initiative jumped to $6.4 billion in 2021 from $1.9 billion in 2020.[/size]
[size=45]It is reported that China launched the Belt and Road Initiative in 2013 to strengthen trade links with several countries around the world, and spent a lot of money on infrastructure development in dozens of countries.[/size]
[size=45]Critics of this project say that China's funding "is usually undesirable, lacks transparency, and makes some of the poorest countries, especially in Africa, dependent on China through debt," according to Reuters.[/size]
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