A Chinese backed solar plant in Cafayate, northern Argentina. Such projects would be given the green light by regulators under new proposals for Chinese overseas investment Credit: Alamy/ChineseDialogue BEIJING, Jan 15 2021 (IPS) - A government-backed coalition of international advisors to the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) has recommended that China apply more stringent environmental controls over its overseas investments. If adopted, this would be a major departure from China’s usual approach of deferring to host country rules, many of them inadequate, for regulating its overseas investments. High-level advisors, including former UNEP chief Erik Solheim and green finance heavyweight Ma Jun, propose a system to categorise Chinese overseas investments based on their polluting, climate and biodiversity impacts.