The world's poorest nations face a "tidal wave of debt" as repayments to China hit record highs in 2025, an Australian think tank warned in a new report Tuesday.

China's Belt and Road Initiative lending spree of the 2010s has paid for shipping ports, railways, roads and more from the deserts of Africa to the tropical South Pacific.

But new lending is drying up, according to Australia's Lowy Institute, and is now outweighed by the debts that developing countries must pay back.