China’s Digital Silk Road is accelerating its footprint across Africa and Southeast Asia, reshaping digital infrastructure in emerging markets. But alongside rapid expansion, the initiative is drawing increasing scrutiny over data control, digital sovereignty, and long-term strategic dependence.
According to the BRI Investment Report 2025, released in January 2026, China signed a record $213.5 billion in new Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) deals last year, marking the highest annual figure since the programme’s launch in 2013. Africa saw a sharp rise in investment, while Southeast Asia remained a core focus for digital infrastructure projects spanning 5G networks, data centres, cloud platforms, and smart-city systems.
Across both regions, the scale and speed of deployment are reshaping connectivity. At the same time, they are forcing governments to confront a more complex question: who ultimately controls the data flowing through these systems.
Chinese technology firms, including Huawei and ZTE, have played a central role in building telecom networks, undersea cables, and national data infrastructure across Africa. These investments have significantly improved connectivity and supported digital inclusion in markets where infrastructure gaps have historically constrained growth.
However, the expansion has also raised policy concerns. Studies by think tanks including the Observer Research Foundation (ORF) and the Mercator Institute for China Studies (MERICS) point to provisions under China’s National Intelligence Law, which could require companies to cooperate with state authorities. For policymakers in host countries, this has raised questions about potential access to data processed through Chinese-built systems.
These concerns have been shaped in part by past incidents, including the 2012–2017 African Union headquarters data transfer case, where servers in Addis Ababa were reportedly found to be transferring data nightly to external locations—allegations Beijing denied. While the episode remains contested, it has become a reference point in broader debates around digital sovereignty.
In several African markets, the absence of comprehensive data protection frameworks has further complicated the picture. Analysts warn that reliance on externally built and managed digital infrastructure could, over time, limit national control over sensitive data and digital ecosystems.
This dynamic is becoming particularly visible in the development of cross-border digital corridors. Chinese-backed fibre networks and subsea cable investments are increasingly linking African markets to global data routes, shaping how financial transactions, trade documentation, and platform-based commerce move across borders. As more trade processes—from customs filings to supply chain finance—shift onto digital rails, control over these networks is becoming strategically significant.
In Southeast Asia, the Digital Silk Road is advancing through large-scale investments in fibre networks, e-commerce platforms, and smart-city initiatives across countries including Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam. The region’s fast-growing digital economy has made it a strategic priority for infrastructure development.
At the same time, governments are taking a more calibrated approach. Assessments by institutions such as the Griffith Asia Institute and the Center for a New American Security (CNAS) indicate that policymakers are increasingly balancing the benefits of cost-effective and rapidly deployable infrastructure against concerns over technological dependence and control over data flows.
The expansion of Chinese-backed digital infrastructure is also beginning to influence regional data routing, e-commerce ecosystems, and cross-border digital trade flows, particularly within ASEAN’s increasingly interconnected digital economy. Platforms, payment rails, and logistics systems built on these networks are gradually shaping how digital trade is conducted across the region.
In practical terms, this means that decisions made today about infrastructure vendors and data architecture could determine how trade data is stored, transmitted, and governed across borders in the years ahead.
Some countries, including Vietnam and the Philippines, have taken steps to diversify technology partners and strengthen domestic data governance frameworks. Others continue to rely heavily on Chinese investment, driven by speed, cost advantages, and fewer regulatory conditions compared with Western alternatives.
China, for its part, has positioned the Digital Silk Road as a core pillar of its broader digital economy strategy. Official policy signals, including its March 2026 Government Work Report, emphasise plans to expand the digital economy’s contribution to GDP and deepen international digital cooperation.
Beijing continues to frame the initiative as mutually beneficial, aimed at supporting digital development across partner countries. However, independent analyses across multiple policy institutions point to a wider strategic dimension—where infrastructure built today could shape future standards for data governance, cross-border data flows, and digital trade architecture.
For governments across Africa and Southeast Asia, the challenge is increasingly one of balance. The need to accelerate digital infrastructure development is clear, but so too is the imperative to retain control over data, regulatory frameworks, and long-term technological direction.
As one regional policymaker noted, “We welcome the infrastructure—but we must ensure we retain control over the data that flows through it.”
The Digital Silk Road is no longer just a connectivity initiative. It is becoming a defining force in how digital trade rules, data governance frameworks, and technology ecosystems evolve across emerging markets.