Since 2013, the BRI has expanded China’s influence worldwide, especially in developing countries. However, China’s spending on the BRI has fallen since 2017 due to capital controls, controversies surrounding various projects, and a looming financial crisis that the Beijing government is trying to prevent. This is worsened by the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The COVID-19 resulted in lockdowns across China and an economic slowdown in developing BRI recipients globally in which countries could not repay or were forced to default on their BRI debts. Russia, the second largest beneficiary of energy spending in BRI, was sanctioned due to its invasion of Ukraine. Although the Beijing government declared unwavering friendship with Russia, Chinese businesses withdrew from associating themselves with Russia to avoid secondary sanctions. With the chaos in the current international order, BRI will likely continue to slow down.