Belt & Road Forum: dozens of heads of state in Beijing to participate

World Today

Belt & Road

Chinese President Xi Jinping has met world leaders ahead of this weekend’s Belt and Road Forum. The event, which starts on Sunday, will see 28 heads of state and government come to Beijing to participate, many of whom have already arrived in the Chinese capital.

CGTN’s Gavin Blackburn has the details.

Belt & Road Forum: dozens of heads of state in Beijing to participate

Chinese President Xi Jinping has met world leaders ahead of this weekend’s Belt and Road Forum. The event, which starts on Sunday, will see 28 heads of state and government come to Beijing to participate, many of whom have already arrived in the Chinese capital. CGTN’s Gavin Blackburn has the details.

Chinese President Xi Jinping met with Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Saturday. President Xi expressed appreciation for Turkey’s support for China’s Belt and Road Initiative. And Erdogan said Turkey is willing to enhance cooperation within the framework of the initiative.

President Xi and Prime Minister of Hungary, Viktor Orban, agreed to upgrade ties to a comprehensive strategic partnership, and highlighted further areas of cooperation to benefit both countries.

In talks with Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, Xi suggested the southeastern Greek port of Piraeus could be expanded to act as a transfer hub for the China-Europe land-sea express in the Mediterranean area. Tsipras praised the benefits the Belt and Road Initiative has brought to Greece and said he was looking forward to further cooperation in infrastructure, energy and telecommunication.

During talks with Prime Minister of Pakistan, Nawaz Sharif, President Xi highlighted the need to build up the China-Pakistan economic corridor, and promote cooperation within the framework of the United Nations and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization. Sharif agreed to deepen the two countries’ relationship and strengthen cooperation.

Xi Jinping also had talks with Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak, emphasizing stronger cooperation to promote joint development. Najib agreed that ties between the two countries are strong and that supporting the Belt and Road Initiative can change people’s lives in the region and around the world.

Xi also met with Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy. The two leaders said the regular freight train service between the eastern Chinese city of Yiwu and the Spanish capital Madrid was one of the earliest achievements of the Belt and Road. Xi Jinping said he was looking forward to working together with Spain to promote China-EU relations.

The leaders of Kazakhstan, Serbia, Laos, Myanmar and Cambodia all arrived in Beijing earlier today.