China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is Chinese President Xi’s signature
foreign policy plan and is one of the most ambitious infrastructure and investment
efforts in history. The BRI began in 2013 to boost trade through investment in
ports, power plants and other infrastructure in more than 140 countries from Asia
to Europe and Africa.
The three-day Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) forum is underway in Beijing to promote Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s “project of the century”. The initiative was launched in 2013 to revive ancient trading routes between Asia and Europe and to build 21st century links in the Middle East, Africa, and South America.
"As the Chinese government's signature foreign policy initiative, the BRI platform is a project of mutual cooperation and we welcome all parties to take part in it,” Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said last week in Beijing.
This week’s BRI forum is especially important for President Xi and China who will use it to show the international community and Chinese citizens the progress made since the project started back in 2013. It is expected that the heads of participating governments at this week's BRI conference will sign a memorandum of understanding that will ensure the project continues well into the future.
The summit is being attended by 37 leaders, including UK chancellor Philip Hammond, Italian prime minister Giuseppe Conte, Russian president Vladimir Putin, Pakistan’s prime minister Imran Khan and the heads of state of the 10 ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) countries. Italy joined the BRI process in March, becoming the first G7 country to participate in the project. Earlier this month, Malaysia announced it was continuing on with a $10.7bn BRI rail project that had previously been cancelled.
To date, China has signed 170 BRI agreements with 125 countries, totalling more than $90bn in Chinese investment.
On Friday, Chinese President Xi will give a keynote address to the BRI Forum where he is expected to say that the Belt and Road is an initiative for economic cooperation and is an open and inclusive process for all countries who wish to participate.
