- XI says China sharing its own wisdom, solutions for global growth, governance
Chinese President Xi Jinping pledged $124 billion on Sunday for his new Silk Road plan to forge a path of peace, inclusiveness and free trade, and called for the abandonment of old models based on rivalry and diplomatic power games.
Addressing the opening of the prestigious gathering, he used a summit on the initiative, attended by leaders and top officials from around the world, to bolster China’s global leadership image. “We should build an open platform of cooperation and uphold and grow an open world economy,” Xi told the opening of the two-day gathering here.
China has stated what it formally calls the Belt and Road initiative as a new way to boost global development since Xi unveiled the plan in 2013, aiming to expand links between Asia, Africa, Europe and beyond underpinned by billions of dollars in infrastructure investment.
President Xi said that the world must create conditions that promote open development and encourage the building of systems of fair, reasonable and transparent global trade and investment rules. He pledged a major funding boost to the new Silk Road, including an extra 100 billion yuan ($14.50 billion) into the existing Silk Road Fund, 380 billion yuan in loans from two policy banks and 60 billion yuan in aid to developing countries and international bodies in countries along the new trade routes.
In addition, he said that China would encourage financial institutions to expand their overseas yuan fund businesses to the tune of 300 billion yuan. The Chinese president did not give a timeframe for the new loans, aid and funding pledged on Sunday. Leaders from 29 countries attended the forum, as well as heads of the UN, International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.
President Xi said the Belt and Road Initiative was a project of the century that would benefit people across the world. “Spanning thousands of miles and years, the ancient silk routes embody the spirit of peace and cooperation, openness and inclusiveness, mutual learning and mutual benefit,” Xi told an audience of more than 1,500.
He said that the Silk Road spirit has become a great heritage of human civilization. By linking countries and regions that account for about 60 percent of the world’s population and 30 percent of global GDP, the initiative is a perfect example of China sharing its own wisdom and solutions for global growth and governance. “The pursuit of this initiative is based on extensive consultation and its benefits will be shared by us all,” he said.
All countries, from either Asia, Europe, Africa or the Americas, can be international cooperation partners of the Belt and Road Initiative, he said. Xi noted that the humankind has reached an age of great progress, great transformation and profound changes, while the world is fraught with challenges. He said that the global growth requires drivers, development needs to be more inclusive and balanced, and the gap between the rich and the poor needs to be narrowed.
With the Belt and Road Initiative, China wants to turn the legends of the ancient Silk Road into a modern story of inclusive growth and cross-continental cooperation. In Washington, White House adviser Matt Pottinger said that the United States welcomed efforts by China to promote infrastructure connectivity as part of its Belt and Road initiative, and the American companies could offer top value services.
