Xi Jinping rejects ‘bloc confrontation’ as BRI forum begins. At the opening ceremony of a meeting of international delegates to the forum honouring the 10th anniversary of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) in Beijing on Wednesday, Chinese President Xi Jinping said his country condemned “economic coercion” and “bloc confrontation.”
In addition, Xi praised his big plan for developing international energy and infrastructure networks that would link Asia with Africa and Europe via land and water, claiming that “blueprints turned into real projects.”
Many heads of state, most notably Xi’s “dear friend” Russian President Vladimir Putin, attended the meeting together with representatives from more than 130 countries, many of which were from the Global South.
“We stand against unilateral sanctions, economic coercion, decoupling and supply chain disruption,” Xi told more than 1,000 delegates gathered in an ornate conference room in the Great Hall of the People west of Tiananmen Square.
As Xi gave his opening remarks, Putin and other world leaders sat in the front row with top Politburo members from China.
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Xi pushed against Western efforts to reduce dependence on Chinese economy, saying that, “our lives will not be better and our development will not be faster if we view the development of others as a threat and economic interdependence as a risk.”
As Beijing’s threats against Taiwan increase the geopolitical risks in Asia, Western economies have made reducing their reliance on supply chains with China a primary priority.
The need to lessen their reliance on China has become even more urgent as a result of the epidemic years’ trade disruptions.
Xi Jinping rejects ‘bloc confrontation’ as BRI forum begins.
Senior EU officials were absent, despite the fact that the BRI was initially intended to link China and Western Europe. Viktor Orban, the populist president of Hungary, was the only head of state from the group in attendance.
Haji Nooruddin Azizi, the minister of trade for the Afghan Taliban government, was among the notable attendees.
“China has more interest right now in developing Afghanistan at this moment, so we are more engaged with China. The Chinese have more interest in economic affairs, that’s why we’re here,” Azizi told a gaggle of reporters at the ceremony.
