Karakoram Highway through snow-capped mountains — China-Pakistan corridor

Outbound China Practice

Belt & Road Advisory

China built the corridors. The agreements that travel them are still being written. Sinolinks is where Chinese companies, foreign governments, and multilaterals find the right counterparty on either side.

By the Numbers

~150

Partner countries with BRI cooperation MoUs

Green FDC, May 2025

USD 1.3T+

Cumulative engagement, 2013–mid-2025

Construction + investment

USD 214B

BRI engagement in 2025

Record annual flow

21

Latin American BRI partners

ECLAC / CASS, 2023

About the Initiative

A Trillion-Dollar Trade Architecture

The Belt and Road Initiative (一带一路) is the structural commercial framework connecting China to the rest of the world. Launched in 2013 and continuously expanded, it spans approximately 150 partner countries and roughly USD 1.3 trillion in cumulative engagement — construction contracts plus equity investment — across rail, ports, energy, manufacturing, and digital infrastructure.

The 2025 cycle alone delivered an estimated USD 214 billion in BRI engagement — the highest annual flow on record — with the largest growth in green energy, EV manufacturing, and metals & mining. The current phase is officially branded "high-quality" Belt and Road: smaller, greener, more commercially viable projects, with continued partnership across Europe, Latin America, Southeast Asia, and the Gulf.

The Opportunity

From Chinese Origin to Global Markets

The Belt and Road Initiative (一带一路) has reshaped how Chinese exporters, contractors, and investors approach the world. What began as infrastructure financing has matured into a structural commercial corridor connecting Chinese capital, technology, and supply chains to host markets across five continents.

Europe is recoupling. Spain and Italy are reopening to Chinese investment after a decade of caution; Eastern Europe holds operational gateways. The Americas — both Latin and North — are the next frontier, with Mexico, Brazil, and Chile actively recruiting Chinese capital under nearshoring tailwinds.

Whether a Chinese company is going outbound, a foreign government is shaping its engagement, or a multilateral is assessing a corridor — the need is the same: a counterparty who reads both regulatory systems, both cultural defaults, and both negotiation logics, fluently.

What We Offer

Outbound Capabilities

01

Host-Country Regulatory Mapping

We map the regulatory terrain of the destination country before deal commitment — licensing regimes, FDI screening (CFIUS, EU FDI Regulation, ICEX), tax structuring, labour compliance, sector-specific permits.

02

Local Partner Due Diligence

We verify foreign counterparties to the same depth we apply to Chinese counterparties for inbound clients — ownership, control, regulatory standing, and the full counterparty profile a principal needs before commitment.

03

Cross-Border Structuring

Joint venture, M&A, distribution, and EPC contract architecture across jurisdictions — drafted to survive both Chinese commercial expectations and host-country contract law.

04

Dispute Prevention & Resolution

Arbitration-clause design, governing-law selection, and pre-dispute negotiation. When deals go wrong, our SHIAC and SCIA arbitrator credentials let us represent Chinese parties in cross-border proceedings.

Priority Corridors

Where We Work

Europe

Spain (Madrid hub), Italy, Portugal, France, Germany, the Netherlands, and the Visegrád Four. EU FDI screening, sectoral compliance, and the Madrid–Hong Kong investment bridge.

The Americas

Mexico (USMCA / nearshoring), Brazil, Chile, Peru, Colombia, and the United States. Latin American free-trade corridors, host-country compliance, and joint-venture frameworks under USMCA-compatible structures.

Southeast Asia & Beyond

Vietnam, Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, the Gulf, and Africa for clients with established BRI exposure. Coordination with our inbound practice for round-trip structuring.

Reference Engagements

Flagship Projects

Twelve years of corridor projects have produced operational rail, port, and energy infrastructure across continents. Selected anchors:

China–Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC)

Integrated land-and-sea corridor through Pakistan to Gwadar Port. Over 9,500 MW of completed power projects; pipeline targets ~13,000 MW by 2026.

Mombasa–Nairobi SGR (Kenya)

472 km standard-gauge railway. ~16 million cumulative passengers and ~42 million tonnes of freight by 2025; credited with raising Kenya GDP ~1.5 percentage points via logistics gains.

China–Laos Railway

414 km electrified line, Boten to Vientiane. In service since December 2021; international Kunming–Vientiane through service since April 2023.

Addis Ababa–Djibouti Railway

Electrified freight and passenger railway connecting Ethiopia's capital to Djibouti's port. Designed for 24.9M tonnes/year capacity; ~3.2M tonnes carried in 2025.

Jakarta–Bandung High-Speed Rail

142 km HSR at up to 350 km/h. Cut Jakarta–Bandung travel from 3 hours to 46 minutes; >5.6M km of safe operation by October 2025.

Khorgos Gateway Dry Port

Inland dry port on the China–Kazakhstan border, on the New Eurasian Land Bridge. Processed over 372,000 TEUs in 2025.

Port of Piraeus (Greece)

COSCO concession since 2008, majority-owned since 2016. Now the EU's fifth-busiest container terminal and the largest in the eastern Mediterranean.

Hungary–Serbia Railway

Belgrade–Budapest rail upgrade linking Central Europe to the Piraeus–Europe corridor. Sections operational; full route under construction.

Why Sinolinks

The Symmetrical Practice

Sinolinks operates as a bidirectional China advisory practice. Foreign capital entering China is half our work; Chinese capital going outbound is the other half. Governments, agencies, and multilaterals engaging from either side draw on the same framework — same regulatory depth, applied in either direction.

Sinolinks operates from Hong Kong (incorporated 2014) with a Madrid base — placing us inside the EU and inside the Greater Bay Area simultaneously. Our principals carry SHIAC and SCIA arbitrator credentials, fluency in Chinese institutional vocabulary, and direct experience of two decades inside the trade-commissioner and regulatory negotiation function.

Engage Sinolinks

Start with a Consultation

Belt & Road advisory engagements begin with a one-hour confidential consultation. Whether you are a Chinese company going outbound, a foreign government evaluating cooperation, or a multilateral assessing a corridor — we assess the thesis, the regulatory gates, and the partner ecosystem, then propose a scope and engagement structure.

Book a Consultation