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As it happened: Xi Jinping unveiled new action plan for Belt and Road Initiative, Vladimir Putin gave first international address since Ukraine war
- Xi announced an eight-point vision for the infrastructure scheme, including funding and green development pledges
- Both the Chinese and Russian leaders keep the focus on economics and did not address issues such as the conflicts in the Middle East or Ukraine
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Josephine Ma and Kawala Xie
Published: 9:32am, 18 Oct, 2023
Chinese President Xi Jinping addresses the belt and road forum in Beijing. Photo: Reuters
INTRODUCTION
Chinese President Xi Jinping’s address at Wednesday’s opening ceremony of the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation will be closely watched for any new light he may shed on the future of the global infrastructure initiative.
Representatives from 140 countries and 30 global organisations are attending the forum, which marks the 10th anniversary of the Belt and Road Initiative. Among them is Russia’s President Vladimir Putin, who will speak after Xi, as well as leaders and businesspeople from across the developing world.
The forum is also intended to position China as a leader among less developed countries and as a global power.
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To sum up
In total, Xi’s plan consisted of eight points – many of them closely tied with Beijing’s goals of attaining “high-quality” growth over the long run.
The points are:
1. A logistics corridor across Europe and Asia.
2. A “silk road e-commerce zone”, with more free-trade agreements and investment treaties.
3. A US$47.8 billion financing pledge from Chinese development banks.
4. A push for green development.
5. Pledges on scientific development and artificial intelligence.
6. More cultural and people-to-people exchanges, including a tourism alliance.
7. More “clean cooperation” to improve transparancy.
8. Efforts to establish belt and road instituions including a secretariat.
11:05AM Putin congratulates belt and road success
Putin has expressed confidence that the Belt and Road Initiative, along with Russian priorities and the proposals by other states will allow for “collective and truly effective solutions to the important and relevant international problems”.
He congratulated China for the success of the initiative.
“When we start something we expect it to be successful but understanding the global scale of the project initiated by Xi Jinping 10 years ago, it was expected that not everything would go great, but China managed to do that and we are happy to see it,” Putin said.
11:00AM More railways planned
More transit links, including railways, are planned from the Arctic to the south, Putin said. He also invited interested states to directly participate in their development of the Northern Sea Route.
From next year, navigation of ice-class cargo ships will be year-round, he added.
Putin also highlighted that Russia would use its presidency of the Brics grouping next year to increase connectivity in the Eurasia region.
10:59AM Strictly economic from Putin and Xi
Neither Putin nor Xi mentioned major global issues, keeping the focus strictly on economic and belt and road matters. There was no mention of the conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza for example.
10:56AM Railway links
Putin listed a number of projects initiated by the Eurasian Economic Union which he said demonstrate how the EEU and belt and road complement each other.
Among them was the West Siberian Railway, and the north-south corridor connecting the Baltic Sea with the Persian Gulf and the Indian Ocean.
10:52AM Wrapping up from Xi
As his speech came to a close, Xi said China hoped to deepen Belt and Road cooperation, embrace higher volume of high-level development, promote the modernisation of more countries, to create more openness and interconnection, and jointly build a community with a shared future for mankind.
Chinese President Xi Jinping. Photo: AP
10:50AM ‘Eurasia partnership’
According to Putin, the belt and road plan is in line with Russia’s vision to create a Eurasia partnership, as he highlighted the complementary roles of the Eurasian Economic Union EAEU and the initiative.
Russia and China are working together to interconnect the Eurasian Economic Union and the belt and road, he said.
10:49AM Silk Road tourism
Xi also announces plans to establish a “Silk Road” tourism alliance to promote cultural exchanges.
He says China will work with international organisations, media, think tanks and cultural platforms to promote “integrity” and to improve the institutional building of a belt and road platform.
Xi announces that a secretariat will be established for future belt and road forums.
10:47AM Putin addresses forum
Russian leader Vladimir Putin is speaking now.
The belt and road plan initiated by Xi was meant to create a fair platform for global cooperation, he said.
“Russia and China and many countries share the vision of equal cooperation while respecting diversity.”
Putin said BRI integrates “very well” with various projects in the world and that the cooperation framework suited the Russian mindset.
Russian leader Vladimir Putin at the belt and road forum. Photo: Reuters
10:43AM Green development
Xi said China will promote green development within the belt and road initiative, including holding conferences and training for 100,000 people from developing countries.
He also pledged to reduce restrictions on market entry and expand digital trade, including holding a yearly global digital trade expo.
10:41AM Artificial intelligence
The Chinese leader pledges to work with other countries to build laboratories to push forward science development and an initiative to promote AI research.
He says he wants to promote the safe development of AI and host a belt and road science summit.
10:38AM Funding pledge
He says the China Development Bank and the Export Import Bank will each set up a 350 billion yuan (US$47.8 billion) financing window, to help push forward “small but beautiful” projects. Another 80 billion yuan will go to other belt and road projects.
Xi says China aims to boost merchandised trade to US$32 trillion and service trade to US$5 trillion over the next five years by 2028.
He also promises to push green development, deepen green infrastructure, energy and transport cooperation, host more green development summits and increase support for belt and road international alliances.
10:37AM An open world economy
China intends to support an open world economy, to establish “silk road e-commerce” pioneering zones and to sign with countries on free trade deals, to completely cancel foreign investment access restrictions in the manufacturing sector.
Xi also announced that China will host an annual “digital expo” to deepen SOE reforms and intellectual property rights.
10:32AM Xi’s action plan
Xi starts to get the substance, unveiling a belt and road action plan. He pledges to speed up a China-Europe rail link and build a new logistics corridor across Asia.
He promises free-trade agreements and investment treaties with more countries and to remove restrictions for foreign investment in Chinese manufacturing.
10:31AM China’s development ‘not about itself’
Xi is using this speech to tie China’s growth with the rest of the developing nations. “China’s development is not just about itself,” he said.
“Headwinds and tailwinds” are expected and countries should persist to reach their goals, Xi said, adding that the path to modernisation proposed by China is a “modernisation of mutually beneficial cooperation and common prosperity”.
10:29AM The US dimension
In a veiled attack on the United States, he calls on countries to respect each other, criticising those who like to see others as a “threat”.
He says that China has not used weapons to conquer other countries since the times of the ancient silk road. “Seeing other people’s development as a threat and economic interdependence as a risk will not allow you to live better and develop faster,” he continues.
He also says: “Treating the others as a risk will not make your life better or develop faster.”
10:27AM China ‘opposes decoupling’
“Those whose economy develops better should help those partners who are temporarily behind,” Xi said, adding that “ideological confrontation, geopolitical rivalry and bloc politics are not a choice for us”.
China did not encourage bloc confrontation and opposes unilateral sanctions, economic coercion and decoupling, he said.
10:25AM Global links
The Chinese market is becoming more closely linked with the international market, Xi continues, and adds that China will open up the Belt and Road Initiative further.
Chinese investment in foreign countries and direct investment in China shows confidence and hope, according to Xi. “Only through win-win cooperation things can be done and done well,” he says.
10:22AM ‘Greatest common denominator’
Xi has told the assembled world leaders that the belt and road initiative has brought together “the greatest common denominator of human development”.
Previous experiences have told us that countries need to “depend on each other”, he said.
10:20AM Health corridor
He says the initiative became a health corridor after the start of the Covid-19 pandemic by providing facial masks, vaccines and working with developing countries to produce vaccines.
10:18AM Xi praises energy solutions
He lauded belt and road energy projects for solving the energy problems of many developing countries.
Xi also noted that port developments have created new economic corridors, which he said had been at the centre of the initiative, along with infrastructure networks.
Rail, aviation and sea links were the “skeleton” of the initiative to effectively promote the circulation of goods, funds, technology and personnel from various countries, he said.
10:16AM Xi starts speaking
After an introduction by Vice-Premier Ding Xuexiang, the Chinese leader takes the stage and starts by welcoming the international guests.
Chinese President Xi Jinping addresses the belt and road forum in Beijing. Photo: Reuters
He says the Belt and Road Initiative, now in its 10th year, has given the world economy a new impetus and created a new platform for international cooperation. He says more than 150 countries have signed up, adding that high-quality sustainable projects are the guiding principle of the scheme.
10:09AM Some economic background
China’s economic recovery is gaining a little momentum, with gross domestic product in the third quarter up 1.3 per cent on the previous three months, according to official statistics released just ahead of the speech.
This compares with a 0.8 per cent rise in the second quarter. Year-on-year, GDP grew 4.9 per cent in the third quarter, higher than market expectations. The previous quarter saw a 6.3 per cent year-on-year rise.
10:08AM Xi joins leaders for official photographs
Xi has joined his fellow state leaders and the heads of international organisations on stage for a group photograph.
Chinese President Xi Jinping along with other delegates. Photo: Reuters
The Chinese leader was standing between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev for the official photographs.
10:03AM Putin arrives
Russian President Vladimir Putin has arrived at the Great Hall of the People and is making his way to the conference room, where leaders are taking to the stage for the group photograph.
Russian President Vladimir Putin arrives. Photo: Reuters
There is no sign yet of Chinese leader Xi Jinping.
9:54AM World leaders arrive
International guests are arriving at the Great Hall of the People, where they will hear Xi’s keynote speech officially opening the belt and road forum.
Attendees arriving at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Wednesday morning. Photo: Bloomberg
Argentine President Alberto Fernández, Chilean President Gabriel Boric and Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev have been spotted among the world leaders filing in to the venue.
Xi seen taking a selfie with Argentine President Alberto Fernandez. Photo: X/@juancruzsanz
State broadcaster CCTV is reporting that Xi is expected to take a group photo with the foreign leaders before giving his speech.
9:47AM The belt and road story so far
Over the past 10 years, China has signed more than 200 belt and road cooperation agreements with 152 countries and 32 international institutions, according to the National Development and Reform Commission, the country’s top economic planning agency.
China declares redoubled commitment to mark decade of belt and road
13 Oct 2023
From 2013 to 2022, cumulative two-way investment between China and partner countries reached US$380 billion, including US$240 billion from China, according to data published in a belt and road white paper published ahead of the forum.
9:38AM Beijing’s belt and road commitment
The global economic downturn in the wake of Covid-19 has led to many discussions about the initiative’s viability, as well as the ability of many of the recipient countries to repay their debts.
Despite these concerns, a white paper published by Beijing last week said the Belt and Road Initiative remains its “overarching plan and top-level design” for opening up and international cooperation.
The white paper also said Beijing is “ready to increase its resource input” into the project, which in recent years has seen a shift from massive infrastructure to “small and beautiful” projects in developing countries.
More than 150 countries have signed up to the initiative, including many from Africa and Central Asia.
9:35AM What will Xi say about global issues?
While it is not Xi’s practice to depart from China’s policy when commenting on international issues, analysts will be listening closely to his remarks.
Analysts will be watching to see how Xi addresses the Israel-Hamas crisis and the war in Ukraine – with Putin’s presence likely to heighten interest in any reference the Chinese leader makes to these conflicts.
Chinese President Xi Jinping has described his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin as China’s “dear friend”. Photo: Reuters
Xi has described Putin as China’s “dear friend” and reaffirmed the strength of the relationship during a visit to Moscow in March. However, analysts have observed that the interests of the two countries do not fully align, despite their close ties. |
