Xi calls for advancing Belt and Road Initiative

BEIJING, Aug. 18 (NsNewsWire) — Chinese President Xi Jinping on Wednesday called for steady advance of the country’s Belt and Road Initiative to benefit people along the routes.

The Belt and Road Initiative should help promote policy coordination, infrastructure connectivity, unimpeded trade, financial integration and mutual understanding among the people, Xi said at a symposium on the initiative held in Beijing, reports Xinhua.

Priority areas for the initiative include building a platform to advance cooperation as well as a green, healthy, intelligent and peaceful Silk Road, Xi said.

The conference was also attended by Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli, National Development and Reform Commission’s head Xu Shaoshi, Foreign Minister Wang Yi, Communist Party chiefs of Fujian, Xinjiang, Guangdong and Shaanxi, as well as experts from think tanks.

The initiative, proposed by Xi in 2013, refers to building a Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road. It is aimed at building a trade and infrastructure network connecting Asia with Europe and Africa along ancient trade routes.

Xi said more than 100 countries and international organizations have participated in the Belt and Road Initiative. China has signed agreements with more than 30 countries along the routes to jointly build the Belt and Road, and more than 20 countries have teamed up with China in industrial cooperation.

The progress and results of the Belt and Road Initiative have been greater than expected, Xi noted.