Hello and welcome to the Intelligence from the Economist.

Today from London, I'm your host, Jason Palmer.

Every weekday we provide a fresh perspective on the events shaping your world.

There's one glimmer of good news amid the global energy crisis sparked by war in Ukraine.

The green transition got up boost.

In the way, some hard truths became clear.

Governments are just going to have to accept that green power is pricey.

And in America, a television show about Jesus Christ has turned out to be an unlikely hit.

But this Jesus is pretty down to earth, cooking, rushing his teeth, even cracking jokes.

Not everyone finds the depiction divine.

Just up though.

For the past decade, China's Belt and Road Initiative has reflected the country's grand

global ambitions.

The scope of it is hard to fathom, a huge investment scheme to create shipping lanes

and trading routes all the way to Africa and Europe.

For President Xi Jinping, it means to up China's international heft and to spur plenty of industry along the way.

In 2021, he hailed it as an opportunity to lift millions of people out of poverty.

It even has a song dedicated to it.

Roads, bridges, railroads, dams, power stations, all financed with Chinese money and built by Chinese companies.

But suddenly, Mr. Xi's hallmark foreign policy seems to be undergoing some belt tightening.

China is undergoing a massive rethink of its overseas lending program.

Carrying Richmond Jones writes about finance and economics for the economist.

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