are often issuing risky high interest loans. $843 billion worth of funding spread across 165 countries. here is a prime example. a 400 kilometre railway stretching from south—west china across the border into the neighbour, down to its capital. it is a complicated project requiring 75 tunnels and 62 bridges and is costing a lot. $5.9 billion. it is one of the poorest countries in the region and it is shouldering most of the risk. last year it had to sell off $600 million chunk of its energy grid to pay china's of creditors all before the railway even starts operations. loans like the laos deal are often cloaked in confidentiality, so researchers are concerned that the sheikh shaky financing are often