Coronavirus outbreak chokes Xi Jinping's Belt and Road Initiative

China's top regulator of state-run companies said in a Tuesday briefing that the outbreak has caused "difficulties" on some overseas projects and investments

When President Xi Jinping made his first state visit this year to Myanmar and signed new infrastructure contracts, there was no indication of the obstacle about to trip up China's plan for railways, ports and highways around the world: the coronavirus. Travel restrictions to prevent the spread of the disease, which has now killed more than 1,800 people, have idled much of the world's second-largest economy and choked key elements of Xi's signature Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).

Chinese workers cannot get to overseas projects, and factories are cut off from the Chinese imports they need to keep running, according to