China's prestige projects around the world

China is investing $46bn in Pakistan, including an economic corridor linking its western Xinjiang province all the way to the south-west port of Gwadar on the Arabian sea. This is just the latest in a series of prestige projects that China has paid for or invested in around the world.

Here are some others that catch the eye.

China has funded many projects throughout Africa, particularly sports stadiums and railway links, but none has been higher profile than the African Union headquarters in Ethiopia - a $200m (£127m) gift from China which dominates the Addis Ababa skyline and is testament to the growing economic ties between China and Africa. Trade between the two has increased more than six-fold during the past decade.

China's largesse in South America is well documented - loans by China's state-owned banks to Latin American countries rose by 71% to $22bn (£14bn) in 2014, according to estimates published by the China-Latin America Finance Database, and it has a voracious appetite for Latin American commodities.

Its major project in the area is "El Gran Canal", a 278km (173 mile-) canal route across Nicaragua. to rival that of Panama.

But such high-profile projects are not without their hiccups. A Chinese-funded port project in Sri Lanka was recently suspended with Colombo citing a lack of government approvals. Analysts say the move has strained ties with Beijing, which maintains the project is in line with local laws. China has pumped millions of dollars into Sri Lanka's infrastructure since the end of a 26-year civil war in 2009, making the most of an investment void from Westerners squeamish over the country's human rights record.

China, as the top consumer and producer of refined copper, has many investments in copper mines in South America. One of the highest profile is its $6bn purchase of Las Bambas copper mine in Peru. When it comes on line in 2015, it is forecast to produce 450,000 tonnes of copper per year.