Intelligence

Global Trends

9 reports in this category.

Climate Change

BBNJ Treaty: The COP21 of the oceans?

8 Sept 2019

China

China’s Plans in Malaysia: 5 Geopolitical Effects You Need to Know

1. China-Malaysia joint construction of Belt and Road restarts After a year-long suspension, China and Malaysia have finally agreed to resume construction of the massive “Belt and Road” train project in northern Malaysia. The construction restarted after an agreement to cut its cost by nearly a third to about $11 billion. The project was initially cancelled by Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad due to “unfair” Chinese mega-projects approved by his predecessor, Najib Razak. China will fund 85% of production with the lead contractor of the project set to be China Communications Construction Co Ltd. This is a strong signal of China’s intentions of increasing its already large economic influence in Malaysia. 2. China Malaysia’s largest trade partner China remains Malaysia’s largest trade partner and continues to grow. from January to November 2018, Malaysia’s total trade rose 6.2 per cent as compared with the same period in 2017, contributed by 6.9 per cent growth in exports and a 5.3 per cent rise in imports. During the period, MalaysiaChina total trade expanded by 8.5 per cent, with an 11.3 per cent increase in exports and 6.3 per cent growth in imports. We can hence see Malaysia’s reliance on China from an economic standpoint, that makes China’s role in the Belt and Road construction, not very surprising. 3. Malaysia seizes money from China-owned bank According to Malaysian PM Mahathir Mohamad, Malaysia seized more than 1 billion ringgit ($243.5 million) from a bank account of state-owned China Petroleum Pipeline Engineering (CPP) over incomplete pipeline projects. Mohamad said: “I understand that money for 80% of the pipeline was paid, but the work completed was only 13%,” Mahathir told reporters. “So the government is entitled to get back the money since the project was cancelled.” This is a signal that despite China’s huge economic presence in Malaysia, the Malaysian government is not afraid to stand up for its economic rights. More on this will be discussed on point 5.

25 Jul 2019