Nasiriyah International Airport

by Asia Investment Research

A press release seen exclusively by AIR and released by China Investment Research and the BRIX Institute has called into question media reports that Iraq received the largest amount of BRI funding from China during 2021, quoting a figure of US$10.5 billion. In fact, it appears that Iraq received no Chinese investment at all. 

The Press Release reads:   

"An article published by Reuters on 2nd February and subsequently cited by additional media that stated 'Iraq was the top target for China’s Belt & Road infrastructure initiative in 2021, receiving US$10.5 billion in financing for projects including a heavy oil power plant' was incorrect in its assertions.  

As seen below, while Chinese institutions did win a number of Iraq based contracts in 2021, for which they will earn revenues, they did not invest capital – either debt or equity – into those contracts. 

Signed Deals with Disclosed Project Values (US$8.0 billion) 

• June 2021 – CSCEC – signed US$367 million EPC contract for Nasiriyah International Airport upgrade (CSCEC made no capital investment) 
• October 2021 - US$1.9 billion contracts awarded for 1,000 schools to Power China and Sinotech; Deal signed in December 2021 (no confirmation of any capital  investment by either organisation)    
• November 2021 - CITIC Construction won the bid for the US$5.7 billion contract for 1st and 2nd phases of AI Khairat heavy oil power plant (CITIC made no capital investment) 

Signed Deals with Disclosed No Values 

•  April  2021 - Sinopec won the deal to develop Iraq's  4.5 Tcf Mansuriyah gas field; revenue sharing deal signed January 2022 (No investment amounts stated) 

Agreement in Principle Only (ie: does not count as either a deal or an investment) 

• December 2021- the preliminary principles agreement for the Al-Faw investment refinery project was signed by South Refineries Company (SRC) /Ministry of Oil, and Hualu Engineering & Technology (majority controlled by CNCEC)
• Based on this analysis, it is not possible to have reached the conclusions either in the study or cited by Reuters and/or any other media."

Conclusion & Sources

This means that economic financial media headlines that Iraq was the largest recipient of Chinese BRI outbound investment in 2021 are incorrect. 

China Investment Research are based in London and track China investments worldwide. The company jointly publishes Asia Investment Research together with Asia Briefing.

The BRIX Institute is based in Sweden and is a joint venture, non-for-profit organisation between the Schiller Institute and the China-Sweden Business Council. It works with Chinese State Universities and also tracks BRI investments.

Corrective Data

Details of 2021 investment flows from China can be found in our Q3 2021 report (available as a complimentary download here) and in our upcoming Q4 2021 report (available for an early bird discounted rate of US$100 here) This offer is valid until 8pm, US PST on Wednesday, February 16, 2022. 

An annual subscription to Asia Investment Research may be ordered here