China doles out $8.7 bn to developing countries ...for development projects
Smart
grab:
The Chinese President Xi Jinping has
announced massive financial support to countries to back the Belt and Road
Initiative (BRI) for greater cooperation among countries in Africa, Asia and
Europe which control about 60 per cent of the world’s trade.
By Edmund Smith-Asante, BEIJING
 |
| President Xi Jinping adressing the forum. |
China has pledged a support of 60
billion yuan (US$8.7 billion) in the next three years to developing countries
and international organisations taking part in a Belt and Road Initiative (BRI)
it is championing, as a fillip for more projects to improve the lives of
people.
The support was announced by the
President of the People’s Republic of China, Xi Jinping at the start of a very
high profile forum in Beijing today (Sunday) dubbed “One Belt, One Road”.
Attending the Belt and Road Forum (BRF) https://ghanapictures.blogspot.com/2017/07/belt-and-road-forum-brf.html which is on the
theme, “Strengthening international cooperation and co-building the 'Belt and
Road' for win-win development” are over 1,500 delegates from over 130 countries
including the over 100 countries that have signed onto the initiative as well
as about 4,000 journalists who are providing coverage.
Delivering the keynote address at the
forum which attracted 29 heads of state including Russian President Vladimir
Putin and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Mr. Xi
additionally pledged two billion yuan (US$ 290 million) in emergency food aid
to developing countries along the Belt and Road as well as a contribution of
one billion US dollars to the Assistance Fund for South-South Cooperation.
More
financial commitment
President Xi announced that China would
also increase its financing support for the BRI by contributing 100 billion
yuan (US$14.5 billion) to the Silk Road Fund. US$40 billion
was pledged when he announced the establishment of the fund in 2014.
The China Development Bank and the
Export-Import Bank of China would set up special lending schemes worth 250
billion yuan (US$36.2 billion) and 130 billion yuan (US$18.8 billion)
respectively to support cooperation on infrastructure, industry capacity and
financing, he said.
President Xi said during the forum China
would sign business cooperation and free trade agreements with over 30
countries.
He announced that as part of the BRI
there would be 2,500 short term research visits
for young foreign scientists, the training
of 5,000 foreign scientists, engineers and managers
and the setting up of 50 joint laboratories as well as an international
coalition for green development in the next five years.
Openness,
inclusiveness, peaceful development
President Xi called for openness and
inclusiveness saying “the ancient silk road connected various civilisations and
made people have an open mind towards prosperity.
“Today the ancient sea ports of Jeddah
and Alexandria are standing as monuments of ancient civilisations.
“If we take the first step towards each
other we can bring about a better future. Human kind has come to a place of
great progress, a diversified world.
“Reform has been frequent and never have
we seen so great dependence of nations and several ways to prevail against
difficulty,” he said.
Stating that the BRI was not meant to
reinvent the wheel but to complement the development modules of countries, he
urged that the initiative must be made a road of peace, which required a stable
and peaceful environment like pertained during the period of the ancient Silk
Road.
He therefore, called on all countries to
respect each other’s sovereignty, foster the vision of common and stable
security, and work to promote mediation in the spirit of justice,
“Strive for poverty exclusion and promote
inclusion. Focus on the fundamental issue of development to achieve economic
integration and an interconnected development for benefits to all,” he urged.
Willing
to cooperate
Both Presidents Putin and Erdogan lauded
the initiative and said they were willing to give their full cooperating and
take full advantage in their respective regions.
President
Putin said, “We cannot resolve modern challenges by using old approaches. We
need new ideas. We need to abandon all stereotypes,” while President Erdogan stated that the initiative “will
strengthen the climate of solidarity,”
between nations.
The UN
Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, said the initiative had a lot in common
with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and called for the necessary
steps to ensure win-win cooperation among all countries for the benefit of all.
Writer’s email: edmund.asante@graphic.com.gh
Fact
Xi said China's cooperation
with countries involved in the initiative is based on the Five Principles of
Peaceful Co-existence, referring to the principles of mutual respect for
sovereignty and territorial integrity, mutual non-aggression, non-interference
in each other's internal affairs, equality and mutual benefit, and peaceful
coexistence.
This story was written on May 14, 2017
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