Virus slows China's major projects in Asia

A Chinese labourer works at a construction site on reclaimed land, part of a Chinese-funded project for Port City, in Colombo on Feb 24, 2020. Major construction projects in Sri Lanka that are funded by China have stalled as workers who returned to China for the Lunar New Year are stuck there due to travel restrictions after the Covid-19 outbreak. - AFP

COLOMBO (AFP): From an artificial island in Sri Lanka to a bridge in Bangladesh and hydropower projects in Nepal and Indonesia, China's trillion-dollar Belt and Road plan is stuttering under the effects of the deadly coronavirus.

The outbreak that emerged in China in late December and spread to dozens of countries has cut off the Chinese labour supplies and equipment imports needed to keep major infrastructure projects running.