Just found this article in the PNG area of the Chinese Embassy's site; if you're not regularly checking this site for the country you are investing in, especially in the Pacific, you are gambling your money. It's well known that developing countries in Africa and the Pacific enjoy taking on Chinese "investment" as it comes in a form of a concessional loan that usually doesn't need to be repaid during the first 5 years. This allows the politician to get the project completed, budget look good, get their cut of whatever fat was built into the contract (see The Australian link below) and then move to Brisbane and retire before it all falls over.
Translation (emphasis by me):
"On July 29, 2019, Xue Bing, Ambassador of Papua New Guinea, met with PNG's Mining Minister Tuke, and the two sides exchanged friendly views on cooperation in the field of new energy mines between China and PNG.Ambassador Xue said that the new relations between China and PNG are friendly and the two sides have carried out fruitful cooperation in various fields including mining and brought tangible benefits to the two peoples. China is willing to further strengthen cooperation with the new government of Papua New Guinea, encourage more Chinese energy and mining enterprises to go to Papua New Guinea for legal investment, deepen the potential of cooperation, enrich the content of cooperation, and promote the continuous development of the comprehensive strategic partnership between the two countries.Minister Tuke thanked China for its contribution to the economic and social development of Papua New Guinea. He said that the PNG side attaches importance to China's capital, technology and personnel training and other advantages, and welcomes more Chinese energy and mining enterprises to invest in PNG. The new government of PNG is willing to strengthen cooperation with China to promote the continued development of PNG and related infrastructure facilities and achieve mutual benefit and win-win results."
Side note:
A typical story about China funded projects in PNG, the Ramu 2 Hydro Power Plant.
"The Australian understands power from the project would cost an estimated US20c per kWh, including the cost of constructing transmission lines to get the energy into the grid and to the mine. This is almost double the cost of power provided by other hydro plants in PNG.The plant, scheduled for completion in 2024, would also be one of the world’s most expensive hydro projects, with a construction cost of at least $US5m per megawatt.The planned 1800MW Karimui hydro project, in Simbu Province, is costed at $US2bn, about $1.1m/MW. Indonesia’s Soma Power is developing a new plant in Sulawesi for $3m per megawatt."
