GENOA, Italy — Ship-to-shore cranes tower excessive above uneven waters and colourful containers on the Ligurian coast of northern Italy. Sailors coming in to dock are greeted with a smorgasbord of transportation business names and logos, from Denmark’s Maersk to Taiwan’s Evergreen. Harder to identify is COSCO, the jewel of China’s maritime enterprise, which owns a 40% stake within the cutting-edge Vado Port System at Vado Ligure.

The facility is certainly one of a minimum of two dozen European hubs wherein Chinese firms personal stakes. Many of those investments dovetailed with Beijing’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), its drive to construct infrastructure stretching from Asia to Europe and Africa, deepening its personal affect alongside the way in which.