CGTN America
Workers install wires on a ‘Golden Bridge of Silk Road’ structure on a platform outside the National Convention Center, the venue which will hold the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation, in Beijing, April 18, 2017. Leaders of 28 countries are set to attend the Chinese summit showcasing President Xi Jinping’s signature foreign policy plan, but few will hail from major Western countries. Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi said Tuesday that Vladmir Putin of Russia, Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey and Spain’s Mariano Rajoy are among those slated to appear next month in Beijing for a summit to discuss Xi’s “One Belt, One Road” infrastructure investment program to stitch together the Eurasian continent. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)
China’s Belt and Road Initiative is a global economic endeavor linking Asia with Europe and Africa. Now, Russia is set to play a significant role.
From energy to infrastructure projects, Beijing is looking to build closer economic ties with Moscow.
Later this month, Chinese President Xi Jinping will host “The Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation” in Beijing. And among those in attendance will be Russian President Vladimir Putin.
In 2015, the two countries reached a strategic agreement to integrate China’s Belt and Road Initiative and Russia’s Eurasian Economic Union.
Together, the two countries are working on more than 60 projects worth some $90 billion. CGTN’s Daria Bondarchuk reports from Moscow.
For an in-depth discussion on how Moscow might fight in with China’s Belt & Road Initiative:
- Chen Chenchen, deputy director and research fellow at the Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies at Renmin University
- Song Zhang, chief correspondent with Shanghai Wen Hui Daily
- Maxim Mikhalev, program director for East Asia and Shanghai Cooperation Organization Countries at the Center for Crisis Society Studies
- Anton Fedyashin, professor of Russian History at American University
