Heads of state, government leaders and representatives from across the world are set to attend the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation in Beijing.

The massive Belt and Road Initiative combines land and maritime routes across Asia, Africa, on into Russia and Europe. And, it is rapidly integrating trade and economic development.

It means huge investment and improved prospects for countries like Pakistan where the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor is moving forward with projects such as the Gwadar Port.

In Africa it means delivering new trains and rail lines in countries like Kenya, with dam construction in the Cote D’Ivoire.

And, Russia has a strategic agreement with China too as it combines the Belt and Road project into its economic future. Some 60 projects worth over $90 billion, that include energy and infrastructure, are already on tap.

For a preview of the Forum, CGTN’s Han Bin reports.

For more on the Belt and Road Forum:

• Zhou Jingxing, political minister-counselor and chief of the Political Section for the Chinese Embassy in the United States.
• Mustafa Sayed, the executive director of the Pakistan-China Institute.
• Babatunde Omilola, the head of Development Planning at the United Nations Development Programme.
• Cobus Van Staden, journalist and also senior lecturer at the Department of Media Studies with the University of Witwatersrand.