China’s Xi pushes global initiative

Trade powerhouse sketches vision to invest in 65 nations.

Pledging more than $100 billion in financing, Chinese President Xi Jinping called Sunday for closer cooperation across Asia and Europe in areas from anti-terrorism to investment as leaders from 29 countries gathered to promote a Chinese initiative that could increase Beijing’s global influence.

The “Belt and Road Initiative” calls for building ports, railways and other facilities in a vast arc of 65 countries. Other countries welcome the investment, but governments including the United States, Russia and India have expressed unease that Beijing also might be using the effort to increase its political stature.

Speaking before an audience that included Russian President Vladimir Putin, Xi said his government has “no desire to impose our will on others.” But he called for “economic integration” and cooperation on financial regulation, anti-terrorism and security — fields in which China’s heft as the world’s No. 2 economy would make it a dominant player.

“We should foster a vision of common, comprehensive, cooperative and sustainable security,” said Xi. He called for stepped-up action against terrorism and what he called its root causes of poverty and social injustice.

The “Belt and Road” is Xi’s signature foreign policy initiative. The two-day meeting that started Sunday gives the Chinese president a platform to promote his image as a global leader and free trade advocate in contrast to President Donald Trump, who has called for import restrictions.

China is hardly the first government to promote regional trade links. Japan has given billions of dollars in grants and low-cost loans to Southeast Asian nations to build ports and other facilities, and governments including South Korea have launched trade initiatives. But Beijing’s effort is the most ambitious and is backed by China’s financial muscle and status as the biggest global trader.

Chinese officials have said previously that “Belt and Road” is purely commercial, though Xi’s comments Sunday indicated Beijing sees that as including a broad array of regulatory and other coordination with potentially far-reaching consequences.

Some diplomats and political analysts say Beijing is trying to create a political and economic network centered on China, push the United States out of the region and rewrite rules on trade and security. The U.S. and Japan, which Beijing sees as rivals for influence in Asia, are not part of “Belt and Road.”

WANG ZHAO / AP Myanmar’s State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi (left) talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping and his wife Peng Liyuan during a welcome ceremony for leaders attending the Belt and Road Forum at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Sunday.