Posted on 20 October 2023
On October 17 and 18 China hosted the third edition forum of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). It brought together world leaders to celebrate the initiative's 10th anniversary, and to announce future projects and progress of the BRI.
The focus of this forum was to address the concerns that China’s ideas for the BRI was largely rooted in changing the narrative of what the BRI does. President Xi said that the BRI is effective because it connects all corners of the earth across land, sea, internet and sky. This was an aim to address concerns which BRI can only help China, Xi said that the BRI encompasses the ideas of “planning together, building together, and benefiting together.”
After much speculation whether the BRI would continue, this forum assured that it would - but with more focus on digital innovation and free trade agreements, as opposed to investment.