Xi elaborates on inspiration behind Belt and Road Initiative

The Belt and Road project is created to facilitate the development of major trade routes across multiple continents, with all roads leading back to China.

Other governments welcome Chinese investment in a region that the Asian Development Bank says needs to spend $7 trillion this decade on ports, railways and other trade-related facilities to keep economies growing.

White House adviser Matt Pottinger said the USA welcomed efforts by China to promote infrastructure connectivity in the initiative, adding that U.S. companies could offer top value services, Reuters reported.

Russian President Vladimir Putin-“Poverty, social chaos. the development level of countries and regions-all this creates a breeding ground for global terrorism, extremism as well as irregular migration”.

Xi said the Belt and Road initiative is meant to be an “open and inclusive platform for development”. He called for stepped-up action against terrorism, poverty and social injustice.

The Chinese foreign ministry said in a statement it opposed such missile tests and it called for restraint from all parties.

“We need to improve policy coordination and reject beggar-thy-neighbor practices”, Xi said. It was Xi’s latest high-profile appearance that seeks to cast him as a global leader and chief advocate for free trade.

The attendees represent some of the more than 60 countries included in the Belt and Road plan that China introduced in 2014 to stimulate trade and economic growth along the ancient Silk Road and beyond. In addition to that, he also announced special lending schemes worth 380 billion yuan (US $56 billion) to support cooperation on infrastructure, industrial capacity and financing.

Xi said the Belt and Road initiative is “a project of the century” that will benefit people across the world. And some economists are cautious about the viability of projects in areas of political instability and poor governance. “Instead, we will create a new model of cooperation and mutual benefit”, Xi said.

Britain’s Finance Minister told the summit his country was a “natural partner” in the new Silk Road, while Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, a close Chinese ally, praised China’s “vision and ingenuity”. The US delegation was led by the Asia director of President Donald Trump’s National Security Council.

He said we should adopt a free trade policy to enhance business links with each other.

The diplomat said all the European nations taking part in the summit’s trade panel collectively chose to rebuff the text because they believe it does not sufficiently address European concerns surrounding transparency of public procurement and social and environmental standards.

The minister, Delfin Lorenzana, said the Chinese government was offering a loan “at the tune of about $500 million” to finance the purchases.

India delivered an implicit criticism of China’s plan Saturday in a statement from its foreign ministry that said such an initiative should meet global norms and not create unsustainable debt.

The route cuts through Gilgit and Baltistan in Pakistan-administered Kashmir, disputed territory that India claims is illegally occupied.

Wary of Islamist militants, Pakistan has set up a new army division to protect the economic corridor.

India, on Saturday, announced that it will boycott the two-day summit which began on Sunday, May 14, citing that the nation can not accept a project which ignores its core concern over sovereignty and territorial integrity.

Governments including Russian Federation, the United States and India have expressed unease about Beijing’s possible political motives in pursuing the trade initiative.

Xi promised to avoid forming a “small group” of allies, which he said might harm regional stability.