II 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 2752 

To establish the position of Country China Officer to monitor and counter 

financing projects around the world that are backed by the People’s 

Republic of China. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 11, 2023 

Mr. LANKFORD introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 

referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations 

A BILL 

To establish the position of Country China Officer to monitor 

and counter financing projects around the world that 

are backed by the People’s Republic of China. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Belt and Road Over5 sight Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. COUNTRY CHINA OFFICER. 

7 (a) DESIGNATION.—Not later than 60 days after the 

8 date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State 

9 shall direct all Chiefs of Mission to designate not fewer 


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1 than 1 Foreign Service Officer in a United States embassy 

2 or other diplomatic post in each country with whom the 

3 United States has diplomatic relations as Country China 

4 Officer. 

5 (b) DUTIES.—Each Country China Officer shall mon6 itor and report on the activity of the People’s Republic 

7 of China in his or her country of responsibility, including 

8 capital investment in critical infrastructure and other 

9 projects associated with the People’s Republic of China, 

10 including the Belt and Road Initiative. 

11 (c) SUNSET PROVISION.—The requirement to des12 ignate Country China Officers under subsection (a) shall 

13 expire on the date that is 10 years after the date of the 

14 enactment of this Act. 

15 SEC. 3. COMPREHENSIVE REVIEW OF BELT AND ROAD INI16 TIATIVE PROJECTS. 

17 (a) REPORT.—Not later than 60 days after the date 

18 of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State shall 

19 direct all United States embassies to prepare a report that 

20 details assets within their country of operation that are 

21 controlled or financed by the Government of the People’s 

22 Republic of China or a state-owned enterprise in the Peo23 ple’s Republic of China. Each such report shall be pre24 pared by a Country China Officer designated pursuant to 


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1 section 2(a) and shall include the information described 

2 in subsection (b). 

3 (b) CONTENTS.—Each report required under sub4 section (a) shall include— 

5 (1) an assessment of the respective country’s 

6 debt obligations to the People’s Republic of China; 

7 (2) a list of known infrastructure projects in 

8 the respective country that are financed from capital 

9 provided by— 

10 (A) the banking system of the People’s Re11 public of China, including— 

12 (i) policy banks, including— 

13 (I) the China Development Bank; 

14 (II) the Export-Import Bank of 

15 China; and 

16 (III) the Agricultural Develop17 ment Bank of China; 

18 (ii) state-owned commercial banks, in19 cluding— 

20 (I) the Industrial and Commer21 cial Bank of China; 

22 (II) the Agricultural Bank of 

23 China; 

24 (III) the China Construction 

25 Bank; 


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1 (IV) the Bank of Communica2 tions Limited; and 

3 (V) the Bank of China; 

4 (iii) sovereign wealth funds, includ5 ing— 

6 (I) the China Investment Cor7 poration; 

8 (II) China Life Insurance Com9 pany; 

10 (III) the China National Social 

11 Security Fund; and 

12 (IV) the Silk Road Fund; 

13 (iv) urban commercial banks; and 

14 (v) rural financial institutions; 

15 (B) international financing institutions, in16 cluding— 

17 (i) the Asian Infrastructure Invest18 ment Bank; and 

19 (ii) the New Development Bank; and 

20 (C) any other financial institution or entity 

21 otherwise controlled, overseen, or managed by 

22 the Government of the People’s Republic of 

23 China; 


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1 (3) the identification of the infrastructure 

2 projects referred to in paragraph (2) that are 

3 projects under the Belt and Road Initiative; 

4 (4) an assessment of projects that have caused 

5 the country to incur significant debt that has the po6 tential to harm its economic prosperity and national 

7 sovereignty; 

8 (5) a list of the known or speculated collateral 

9 listed by the respective country for the debts in10 curred by Belt and Road Initiative projects referred 

11 to in paragraph (1); 

12 (6) a list of the known assets owned by the 

13 Government of the People’s Republic of China or 

14 state-owned enterprises in the People’s Republic of 

15 China, including telecommunications and critical in16 frastructure; and 

17 (7) a list of known activities at research institu18 tions or institutions of higher education controlled or 

19 financed by the Government of the People’s Republic 

20 of China or state-owned enterprises in the People’s 

21 Republic of China. 

22 (c) SUBMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION OF REPORT.— 

23 (1) INITIAL SUBMISSION.—Not later than 1 

24 year after the date on which the Secretary of State 

25 issues the directive described in subsection (a), the 


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1 Chief of Mission in each country shall submit the re2 port required under subsection (a) to the Under Sec3 retary of State for Political Affairs. 

4 (2) DISTRIBUTION.—The Under Secretary shall 

5 prepare and distribute a report that includes all of 

6 the information from the individual country reports 

7 received pursuant to paragraph (1) to— 

8 (A) the heads of other Bureaus and agen9 cies of the Department of State, as appropriate; 

10 (B) the United States International Devel11 opment Finance Corporation; 

12 (C) the Committee on Foreign Relations of 

13 the Senate; 

14 (D) the Committee on Armed Services of 

15 the Senate; 

16 (E) the Select Committee on Intelligence 

17 of the Senate; 

18 (F) the Committee on Finance of the Sen19 ate; 

20 (G) the Committee on Foreign Affairs of 

21 the House of Representatives; 

22 (H) the Committee on Armed Services of 

23 the House of Representatives; 

24 (I) the Permanent Select Committee on In25 telligence of the House of Representatives; and 


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1 (J) the Committee on Ways and Means of 

2 the House of Representatives. 

3 SEC. 4. NOTIFICATION OF FUTURE BELT AND ROAD INITIA4 TIVE PROJECTS. 

5 After the reports required under section 3 have been 

6 prepared and submitted, the Secretary of State shall re7 quire the respective Embassy and the China Desk at the 

8 Department of State of any project described in section 

9 3(b)(2) not later than 30 days after the date on which 

10 the Country China Officer is informed of such project. 

11 SEC. 5. ANNUAL COMPREHENSIVE REPORT OF BELT AND 

12 ROAD INITIATIVE PROJECTS. 

13 During the 10-year period beginning on the date of 

14 the enactment of this Act, the Under Secretary of State 

15 for Political Affairs shall submit an annual report to Con16 gress that— 

17 (1) contains all findings relating projects con18 trolled or financed by the Government of the Peo19 ple’s Republic of China or state-owned enterprises in 

20 the People’s Republic of China submitted by Coun21 try China Officers through the process described in 

22 section 3(b)(2) during the 12-month reporting pe23 riod; and 

24 (2) includes updated findings and analyses re25 lated to paragraphs (3), (4), and (5) of section 3(b). 


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1 SEC. 6. ANNUAL STRATEGY TO COUNTER PRC INFLUENCE. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Country China Officer at 

3 each respective embassy, in consultation with the Chief of 

4 Mission for the respective country, shall develop a com5 prehensive, country-specific strategy to counter the influ6 ence of the People’s Republic of China, including a plan 

7 to counter anti-American messaging by the People’s Re8 public of China, within their country of responsibility. 

9 (b) USE OF STRATEGY.—The strategy developed pur10 suant to subsection (a) shall be used to equip all personnel 

11 across all embassies, consulates, and other diplomatic 

12 posts in the respective country of responsibility with the 

13 tools needed to effectively counter the influence of the Peo14 ple’s Republic of China in their respective context and 

15 country of responsibility. 

16 (c) SUBMISSION.—The Chief of Mission shall submit, 

17 during the 10-year period beginning on the date of the 

18 enactment of this Act, an annual report to the Under Sec19 retary of State for Political Affairs that— 

20 (1) describes the implementation of the strategy 

21 developed pursuant to subsection (a) during the re22 porting period; and 

23 (2) assesses specific challenges and opportuni24 ties relating to the People’s Republic of China in the 

25 respective country of responsibility. 


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1 (d) DISTRIBUTION.—The Under Secretary shall sub2 mit an annual report that summarizes the information 

3 contained in the reports received pursuant to subsection 

4 (c) to the heads of the Bureaus of the Department of 

5 State, as appropriate. 

6 (e) EXCLUSIONS.—Countries with limited or no in7 vestments by the Government of the People’s Republic of 

8 China shall be excluded from the strategy developed pur9 suant to subsection (a). 

10 SEC. 7. PROCUREMENT PROJECTIONS. 

11 (a) ANNUAL REPORT.—The Country China Officer 

12 at each respective embassy, in consultation with other em13 bassy personnel, shall submit, during the 10-year period 

14 beginning on the date of the enactment of this Act, an 

15 annual report to the Under Secretary of State for Political 

16 Affairs that— 

17 (1) describes the procurement and infrastruc18 ture needs of their respective country of responsi19 bility; and 

20 (2) assesses specific challenges and opportuni21 ties relating to potential financing by the People’s 

22 Republic of China for procurement and infrastruc23 ture projects to meet such needs. 

24 (b) DISTRIBUTION.—The Under Secretary shall sub25 mit an annual report that summarizes the information 


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1 contained in the reports received pursuant to subsection 

2 (a) to— 

3 (1) the heads of the Bureaus of the Department 

4 of State, as appropriate; and 

5 (2) other instrumentalities of the Federal Gov6 ernment, including the United States International 

7 Development Finance Corporation. 

8 SEC. 8. SENSE OF CONGRESS REGARDING DEVELOPMENT 

9 FINANCE. 

10 It is the sense of Congress that, as the People’s Re11 public of China’s influence grows through infrastructure 

12 (particularly infrastructure that can easily be shifted from 

13 economic to military uses), the United States Inter14 national Development Finance Corporation should 

15 prioritize providing alternative financing opportunities 

16 that increase port and air field capacity of countries 

17 that— 

18 (1) meet the investment criteria set forth in the 

19 BUILD Act of 2018 (division F of Public Law 115– 

20 254); and 

21 (2) are targets of the predatory infrastructure 

22 development scheme of the People’s Republic of 

23 China commonly known as the Belt and Road Initia24 tive. 

Æ 


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