BRI game-changer for countries like Pakistan

Former Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz has said that Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) launched by Chinese President Xi Jinping has brought tangible benefits to participating countries and it is a game-changer for countries like Pakistan.

Addressing at a parallel forum of the fourth Understanding China Conference opened in southern Chinese city of Guangzhou, he said, “BRI is a game-changer for countries like Pakistan."

"Thanks to the BRI, we have a new port and domestic trains have also been improved. The initiative comes with development in areas including infrastructure, financing and after-sales service," he said, adding that hundreds of people have found jobs because of the BRI and more ships have started to come to our country.

So far, China has signed cooperation documents with more than 160 countries and international organizations on the initiative. With the fast growth of the BRI, China has boosted market-oriented cooperation with relevant countries to upgrade their industrial structure.

From 2013 to 2018, the trade volume between China and other countries along the Belt and Road surpassed 6 trillion U.S. dollars and China's investment in those countries exceeded 90 billion dollars.

"Though proposed by China, the opportunities and achievements brought by the BRI are shared by the world," said Zhao Ai, executive vice president of the China Society of Economic Reform.

"The cooperation among BRI countries has opened up new space for world economic growth, built a new platform for international trade and investment and contributed to the improvement of the global governance system," he said.

Meanwhile, Asian markets mostly rose Tuesday, taking up the baton after a record close on Wall Street, with investors filled with a renewed sense of hope over China- US talks, while the pound was winning support from easing Brexit fears. Expectations for another Federal Reserve interest rate cut this week and a strong corporate reporting season were also providing a much-needed lift to confidence after a rollercoaster year on global trading floors.

Donald Trump reinforced optimism that the world's economic superpowers are on track to resolve their tariffs war by saying the two sides were "ahead of schedule" on the first phase of a wider deal and he hoped to sign it with Xi Jinping next month.

His comments came after officials from Washington and Beijing hailed progress in toplevel talks on Friday.

"So far the soundings coming from both the US and China point to the likelihood a significant progress in trade negotiations," said National Australia Bank analyst Rodrigo

Catril.

But he added that while they appeared to have reached agreement on key issues, it "is probably worth noting that so far neither party has officially said anything about the contentious issue surrounding China's demand for a pullback on US tariffs".

Investors, he said, seemed to be betting on that the improved relations will see the US suspend new levies due in December, or even roll back those imposed last month. However, he warned: "This is a big assumption as talks could easily fail again if both parties don't find a compromise."

Hong Kong and Seoul each edged up 0.1 percent while Tokyo went into the break 0.5 percent higher with Singapore jumping more than one percent.

Sydney was flat, while there were gains in Taipei but Shanghai slipped 0.4 percent.

"It looks as if we've pretty much hit the bottom in some sectors and we should actually be near an inflection point," Margie Patel at Wells Fargo Asset Management told Bloomberg TV.

"We've had the Fed cutting rates pretty much all of this year. It takes a while for that to feed into the economy. I think the worst is pretty much behind us."

While the earnings season is in full swing, investors are also keeping tabs on the Fed's next policy meeting this week, which could see it cut borrowing costs once again.