Financial Times | 11th May 2017:

China:Foreign direct investment and exports are down, but construction revenue is up.

China’s President Xi Jinping will host 28 heads of state this weekend for a summit to promote his signature Belt and Road Initiative, an ambitious programme of economic diplomacy that analysts have compared with the Marshall Plan.

Mr Xi’s plan for a “Silk Road Economic Belt” and a “21st-Century Maritime Silk Road”, first proposed in 2013, calls for building infrastructure links to bind China more closely with central and south-east Asia, the Middle East, Europe and Africa. In some versions of the plan, Latin America is also included.

Despite the hype surrounding the BRI — it has already been the subject of numerous banking conferences and think-tank panels — a range of indicators suggests that Chinese investment in the initiative has slowed.

About The Belt Road Initiative (BRI):

The Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st-century Maritime Silk Road also known as the Belt and Road Initiative, the Belt and Road (abbreviated B&R), or One Belt, One Road (abbreviated OBOR) is a development strategy, proposed by Chinese paramount leader Xi Jinping that focuses on connectivity and cooperation among countries primarily between the People’s Republic of China and the rest of Eurasia, which consists of two main components, the land-based “Silk Road Economic Belt” (SREB) and oceangoing “Maritime Silk Road” (MSR).

The strategy underlines China’s push to take a bigger role in global affairs, and its need for priority capacity cooperation in areas such as steel manufacturing.

It was unveiled in September and October 2013 in announcements revealing the SREB and MSR, respectively.

It was also promoted by Premier Li Keqiang during the State visit in Asia and Europe.

It was the most frequently mentioned concept in People’s Daily in 2016.

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