Representatives from at least 140 countries including the Russian president Vladimir Putin are visiting Beijing to attend the third Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation held in the city on Tuesday and Wednesday, October 17 and 18, Global Times reported.
The third Belt and Road Forum coincides with the 10th anniversary of the launch of Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). The forum will review the progress of the BRI projects and will gather the feedback related to its future prospects.
This is Putin’s second such foreign visit since the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant against him for his alleged role in war crimes in Ukraine in March. Since China is not party to the Rome Statute, it is not obligated to enforce the arrest warrant.
A large number of other leaders from Africa, Asia, Europe, and Latin America have also arrived in China to participate in the meeting. A large number of countries are represented by high state officials. They are joined by several heads of global organizations and academics.
Chinese president Xi Jinping attended the opening ceremony of the Forum and will address it on Wednesday, Xinhua reported. Xi has been holding bilateral meetings with all the heads of states visiting to attend the forum, including Putin.
The BRI project was first launched by the Chinese president Xi in 2013. He had claimed that the project was inspired by the ancient Silk Road which connected the East with the West for trade and cultural exchanges.
BRI had varied objectives including facilitating policy coordination, infrastructure connectivity, unimpeded trade, financial integration and closer people to people ties among participating countries.
According to Xinhua, over the last decade, China has signed over 200 BRI agreements with over 150 countries and over 30 international organizations. It also claims that since 2013 BRI projects have generated over 420,000 jobs and lifted around 40 million people out of poverty.
According to various sources, the overall value of all the projects under the BRI today has crossed USD 1 trillion.
The aims and objectives of the project have since grown to include fighting climate change and building projects to address all forms of regional and economic inequalities, Xinhua claims.
In recent times, BRI has faced various campaigns launched by the Western media. The reports in the media have alleged that most of the BRI projects are running late or slow and allegedly pushing small and developing countries into large-scale debt trap. Some have also alleged the projects have strategic and military aspects attached to it.
China and most of the host countries have refuted these allegations arguing they are made to smear the BRI and to scare the developing countries away from any China’s initiative to have a strong South-South cooperation. China also stated that the smear campaign against these projects are a part of Cold War-like propaganda, revived in recent years by the US which has been waging a multipronged trade war against it.
