China’s Xi hails Belt and Road as ‘project of the

century’
Clover, Charles; Ju, Sherry Fei; Hornby, Lucy . FT.com ; London (May 14, 2017).

ProQuest document link

ABSTRACT (ENGLISH)
For Mr Xi, the forum is a chance to project political influence to two audiences: an outside world looking for global
leadership amid unpredictability in Washington and the fallout of Brexit; and within China, where the president is
positioning himself for his second term as head of the ruling Communist party. Putin-Xi embrace masks Belt and
Road misgivings New Silk Road investment falls in 2016 Belt and Road initiative - in charts Comment: Xi’s project
under threat from one-way traffic -------------------- Heads of state flying to China for the forum have been eager to
secure some of that largesse for their own countries, to help revive their economies following a multiyear slump in
growth after the peak of the energy and commodities “supercycles” around 2012. Funding initiatives announced
on Sunday include a Rmb100bn ($14.5bn) contribution to China’s Silk Road Fund, Rmb250bn in special lending
schemes to the China Development Bank...

FULL TEXT
Chinese president Xi Jinping hailed his country’sBelt and Road initiativeas “the project of the century” as he
announced scaled-up financing for a signature strategy that promises billions in investment and trade benefits.

Delegates from more than 100 countries, including 28 heads of state, convened in a $1bn complex north of Beijing
for thetwo-day summitthat began on Sunday. Pride of place went to Russian president Vladimir Putin, while the
largest economies in Asia and the west sent lower-level representatives.

China used the forum to announce lavish new financing plans at a time when the US and Europe are scaling back
theirinternational commitments. Attendees pushed for greater clarity on the ambitious but hazily defined strategy.

For Mr Xi, the forum is a chance to project political influence to two audiences: an outside world looking for global
leadership amid unpredictability in Washington and the fallout of Brexit; and within China, where the president is
positioning himself for his second term as head of the ruling Communist party.

“Spanning thousands of miles and years, the ancient silk routes embody the spirit of peace and co-operation,
openness and inclusiveness, mutual learning and mutual benefit,” Mr Xi said in his opening speech. “We should
foster a new type of international relations featuring win-win co-operation; and we should forge partnerships of
dialogue with no confrontation and of friendship rather than alliance.”

The initiative aims to expand China’s economic and political influence while addressing crippling industrial
overcapacity at home. It is also a self-conscious evocation of past eras when China was at its most powerful.

The “road” refers to the maritime trade routes traced by the eunuch admiral Zheng He at the height of the 14th-
15th century Ming dynasty influence over Southeast Asia, while the “belt” refers to the silk road through central
Asia that flourished during the four-century long Han dynasty two millennia ago and the 7th-10th century Tang

PDF GENERATED BY SEARCH.PROQUEST.COM Page 1 of 4

dynasty.

Themodern strategyaims to raise China’s international influence while exporting a crippling surplus in domestic
industrial capacity to countries around the world via loans and investments.

--------------------

Putin-Xi embrace masks Belt and Road misgivings

New Silk Road investment falls in 2016

Belt and Road initiative - in charts

Comment: Xi’s project under threat from one-way traffic

--------------------

Heads of state flying to China for the forum have been eager to secure some of that largesse for their own
countries, to help revive their economies following a multiyear slump in growth after the peak of the energy and
commodities “supercycles” around 2012.

“Xi wants to get everyone in a room together and give this idea another big political push,” said Sir Tom Troubridge,
China head for PwC and vice-chairman of the China British Business Council. “I can’t put a number on it but if it
works half as well as China wants, it will still be the biggest infrastructure project in the world for years to come.”

Scaled up financing support comes despite a 2016 pullback inChinese investmentinto the 65 countries formally
included in the strategy, while capital flowing into developed countries soared.

Funding initiatives announced on Sunday include a Rmb100bn ($14.5bn) contribution to China’s Silk Road Fund,
Rmb250bn in special lending schemes to the China Development Bank and Rmb130bn to the Export-Import Bank
of China to support co-operation on infrastructure, industry capacity and financing.

The Silk Road Fund was capitalised with $40bn when it was founded in 2014. In 2015, China announced a$62bn
capital injectioninto the CDB, Ex-Im Bank and debt-ridden Agricultural Bank of China, to prepare for increased
lending in line with what was at the time labelled the One Belt, One Road strategy.

The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, the Chinese-led multilateral bank, has so far disbursed about $1.7bn in
loans for nine projects through the AIIB, most of which have been co-financed with other multilateral lenders.

Despite Mr Xi’s reassurances that Beijing would not engage in “outdated geopolitical manoeuvrings”, China’s push
abroad is not without controversy. Some of the most vocal opposition comes from India, which has been trading
barbs with China over Himalayan boundaries while eyeing with distrust the planned $55bn China-Pakistan
Economic Corridor which runs through territory claimed by New Delhi.

India boycotted the summit. “No country can accept a project that ignores its core concerns on sovereignty and
territorial integrity,” said a spokesman for its Ministry of External Affairs.

PDF GENERATED BY SEARCH.PROQUEST.COM Page 2 of 4

And although China - and especially the AIIB - has been careful to depict its overseas investments as prioritising
“green” or environmentally friendly projects, concerns are rising that the country’s rampant industrial pollution and
deep reliance on coal will simply be duplicated elsewhere.

China has been involved in 240 coal-fired power projects in 25 of the 65 Belt and Road countries, with India
accounting for about half of the 251GW of installed capacity. However, Chinese investments in coal-fired plants
abroad fell in the past year, according to a study by the Global Environmental Institute, a Chinese NGO.

Additional reporting by David Keohane in Mumbai

Credit: Charles Clover, Sherry Fei Ju and Lucy Hornby in Beijing

DETAILS

Subject: International relations; Infrastructure; Coal; Initiatives

Location: Southeast Asia China Beijing China United States--US India Europe

People: Putin, Vladimir

Publication title: FT.com; London

Publication year: 2017

Publication date: May 14, 2017

Publisher: The Financial Times Limited

Place of publication: London

Country of publication: United Kingdom

Publication subject: Business And Economics

Source type: Trade Journals

Language of publication: English

Document type: News

ProQuest document ID: 1909308093

Document URL: https://search.proquest.com/docview/1909308093?accountid=34302

Copyright: Copyright The Financial Times Limited May 14, 2017

Last updated: 2017-06-14

Database: ProQuest Central

PDF GENERATED BY SEARCH.PROQUEST.COM Page 3 of 4

LINKS
Check for full text via OCLC Link Resolver

Database copyright  2017 ProQuest LLC. All rights reserved.

Terms and Conditions Contact ProQuest

PDF GENERATED BY SEARCH.PROQUEST.COM Page 4 of 4