China-US trade war is driving Belt and Road Initiative into the slow lane

Is Donald Trump trying to drive Xi Jinping’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) off the road — or perhaps off the ocean?

There are signs that the US-China trade war is causing problems inside Beijing’s state lending sector.

Cosco Shipping and China Merchants Group are often the figureheads of the BRI plan, but it is the Beijing banks that ultimately underwrite the new container terminals, pipelines and other infrastructure for the new Silk Road.