Beijing: China on Sunday described its new Silk Road initiative as “a project of the century” with President Xi Jinping pledging to pump in a whopping $124 billion for projects that are part of the ambitious venture linking the country to much of Asia, Europe and Africa.
“We should build an open platform of cooperation and uphold and grow an open world economy,” Mr Xi said in his opening address outlining China’s vision.
Mr Xi announced that China will contribute an additional 100 billion yuan (about $14.5 billion) to the $40 billion Silk Road Fund to scale up financial support for the Belt and Road Initiative.
To provide more funding for his pet initiative, Mr Xi stated that China will also encourage financial institutions to expand their overseas yuan fund businesses to the tune of to 300 billion yuan (about $44 billion).
In addition to that, he also announced special lending schemes worth $56 billion to support cooperation on infrastructure, industrial capacity and financing.
Mr Xi also pledged an additional assistance worth 60 billion yuan ($9.5 billion) for developing countries and international organisations participating in the initiative to improve people’s well-being over the next three years.
Xi said the Belt and Road initiative is “a project of the century” that will benefit people across the world. China will also set up 50 joint laboratories with countries participating in the Belt and Road initiative to enhance cooperation on innovation, he said. The B&R includes a maze of roads and port projects.
