Yu Hong
Senior Research Fellow, East Asian InstituteArticles by Yu Hong
Economy
China’s BRI problem: From builder to debt collector
China has embarked on very rapid and massive overseas lending since 2013, when it launched the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). But it has now become the world’s largest debt collector for developing countries’ debt repayments. EAI senior research fellow Yu Hong assesses whether China’s shifting role in global lending will undercut the BRI.
Yu Hong
24 Jun 2025
Economy
Trade war wake-up call: Will China finally fix its economy?
Export-oriented manufacturing provinces in China, such as Guangdong and Zhejiang, have been hit especially hard by Trump’s reciprocal tariffs and the ever-escalating China-US trade war. EAI senior research fellow Yu Hong tells us more about how these provinces are coping with the hostile trade environment and how China can survive the trade war.
Yu Hong
24 Apr 2025
Economy
Can the Yangtze River Delta area remain the economic anchor of China? [Eye on JiangZheHu series]
The Yangtze River Delta area, first comprising Shanghai, Jiangsu and Zhejiang then later expanding to include Anhui, has clear-cut advantages in scientific and technological innovation. But the area also faces several challenges. EAI senior research fellow Yu Hong observes that excessive competition among cities and provinces within the region remains a pressing issue.
Yu Hong
09 Jan 2025
Economy
How Hong Kong reclaimed its spot as Asia’s top financial centre
A US Congress bill threatens to curtail the privileges of Hong Kong’s trade offices in the US if they are not deemed to have a “high degree of autonomy” from Beijing. This could hurt Hong Kong’s economic attractiveness, but the special administrative region still has some fundamentals it can rely on, says EAI senior research fellow Yu Hong.
Yu Hong
11 Oct 2024
Economy
China’s not a fragile country on the brink of economic collapse
While China faces both domestic and international economic headwinds, including structural issues that require difficult reforms, it is important to view its economic trajectory as a whole, recognising both opportunities and challenges. EAI senior research fellow Yu Hong emphasises that China is certainly not a fragile country on the brink of collapse.
Yu Hong
01 Oct 2024
Economy
Is the Hong Kong economy really in demise?
While naysayers have painted a doomsday scenario for Hong Kong since the plummeting of the Hang Seng Index, EAI senior research fellow Yu Hong points to Hong Kong's strong fundamentals, the vitality of the Greater Bay Area and the knock-on effects of the recovery of the mainland economy. He notes that as long as the mainland economy continues to grow, the Hong Kong stock market will remain attractive to regional and global investors.
Yu Hong
18 Mar 2024
Economy
Can the US-backed 'modern spice route' challenge China's new Silk Road?
While the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor launched at the recent G20 summit has been touted as a game changer, challenges lie in the way of implementing the plan while China's ten-year-old BRI continues to be entrenched in global infrastructure networks. EAI senior research fellow Yu Hong shares his views.
Yu Hong
19 Sep 2023
Economy
Integrating Hong Kong into China's Greater Bay Area: Easier said than done?
Greater prosperity in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area would require greater synergising and complementarity between the core leading cities of Hong Kong, Shenzhen and Guangzhou. But this is easier said than done, especially for Hong Kong. EAI senior research fellow Yu Hong explains.
Yu Hong
12 Jun 2023
Economy
Why China's BRI is not a debt trap
The solution to developing countries' ballooning debt arising from borrowing to finance Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and other projects is not to stop the work, as such projects could spur greater economic development and growth, says EAI senior research fellow Yu Hong. Rather, greater transparency and debt sustainability analysis should be applied in relation to BRI debt.
Yu Hong
06 Jun 2023
Economy
China's slowing economy will not deter BRI outreach
Despite challenges arising from the slowing Chinese economy, China is likely to continue pushing forward on the BRI, it being a key plank of President Xi Jinping's foreign policy. Along the way, however, it will have to make certain adjustments for a smooth transition into BRI 2.0.
Yu Hong
06 Oct 2022
Economy
[Future of China] China's ten-year-old BRI needs a revamp
The BRI's implementation will be slowing down as a result of multiple factors ranging from the global Covid-19 pandemic, the shift in the global geostrategic environment and the Chinese economic slowdown. As it changes its model to suit change, it could focus more on sustainable financing for BRI countries and lower the long-term financial impacts of loans for infrastructure projects. It could also pursue "third-party market cooperation" as a flexible approach in its pursuit of cooperation with other countries under the BRI umbrella. This is the second in a five-part series of articles on the future of China.
Yu Hong
13 Sep 2022