Two Steps Forward, One Step Back: China, the Middle East, and Africa
Despite Beijing’s upbeat tone, the scaling back in Africa, and the failure to follow through on investment in Iran, is consistent with Xi’s so-called “dual-circulation” strategy. Basically, the idea is to balance China's foreign trade with developing national industry, with a focus on?quality?global investments.?This is good news for BRI nations who have their acts together, bad news for nations like Iran, and those in Africa who don’t.