Foreign lenders eye B&R prospects

SHANGHAI - Bill Winters, group chief executive of Standard Chartered Plc, spent 10 days visiting five Chinese cities last month.

Winters said the company is seeking to add value to China's Belt and Road Initiative.

According to the Chinese Ministry of Commerce, Chinese companies increased investment in 55 economies involved in the initiative in the first half year, with a total of $7.4 billion, up 12 percent year-on-year. The contract value of newly signed contracted engineering projects in economies involved in the initiative was $47.79 billion.