SILK ROAD TALKS BEGIN IN CHINA
President Xi pledges extra $124bn for his new Silk Road initiative as the leaders of 29 nations gather in Beijing for summit
Beijing summit for its ‘project of century’,
BEIJING // China touted its new Silk Road as “a project of the century” yesterday at a summit in Beijing highlighting its growing leadership on globalisation.
President Xi Jinping hosted leaders from 29 nations for the two-day summit ending today. As many as 81 other countries sent delegations, including the UAE. The summit is showcasing Mr Xi’s cherished One Belt, One Road initiative, a revival of the ancient Silk Road trade routes that could further expand China’s growing global influence on trade and geopolitics.
“This is indeed a gathering of great minds,” he said, addressing leaders including Russian president Vladimir Putin, Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte, although few western heads of government made the trip.
Mr Xi pledged to pump an extra US$124 billion (Dh455.5bn) into the initiative, calling it “a project of the century” in a “world fraught with challenges”.
The Chinese-bankrolled project seeks to link the country with Africa, Asia and Europe through an enormous network of ports, railways, roads and industrial parks.
The initiative spans about 65 countries representing 60 per cent of the world population and about a third of global gross domestic product. The China Development Bank has allocated $890bn for 900 projects.
The initiative could also serve Beijing’s geopolitical ambitions as Washington retreats into America First policies. Attending the summit, Dr Sultan Al Jaber, Minister of State and chief executive of the Adnoc Group, said: “The United Arab Emirates strongly supports the Belt and Road initiative, which will foster economic growth and stability, both regionally and globally, by encouraging positive cooperation, alignment and true partnership.” The summit took place as US and South Korean military officials confirmed that Pyongyang had test-fired a ballistic missile. The missile flew more than 700 kilometres before landing in the Sea of Japan.
The US representative at the summit, White House adviser Matt Pottinger, was pictured
The project seeks to link the country with Africa, Asia and Europe through a network of ports, railways, roads and industrial parks
near North Korea’s minister of external economic relations, Kim Yong-jae, as the two arrived. But US embassy spokeswoman Mary Beth Polley said the two officials did not hold a meeting.
Mr Xi said that the project represented a “road for peace”, but that “all countries should respect each others’ sovereignty and territorial integrity”.
He warned that “isolation results in backwardness”.
Praising Mr Xi’s initiative, Mr Putin warned that “protectionism is becoming the norm”.
“The ideas of openness, trade freedom are rejected more and more, very often by those who were their supporters not so long ago,” he said.
Although Donald Trump railed against China’s trade policies during the US presidential election in November last year, he has nurtured friendly ties with Mr Xi and his envoy to yesterday’s summit said North Ameri- can companies were ready to get involved in the Silk Road.
“US firms can offer the best-value goods required over the life of a project,” Mr Pottinger told the forum, although he warned that success would depend on transparent government procurement, among other things.
German economy minister Brigitte Zypries echoed the need for transparency to ensure that the calls for bids are “non-discriminatory”.
Some Belt and Road projects are raising concerns.
India has voiced displeasure at the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, a Belt and Road project aimed at linking north-west China to the Arabian Sea.
The route cuts through Gilgit and Baltistan in Pakistan- administered Kashmir, disputed territory that India claims is illegally occupied.