China to hold Belt and Road Forum in May

Beijing, April 18: China is set to hold the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation next month, Foreign Minister Wang Yi announced on Tuesday.

The two-day forum will take place from May 14 in Beijing, the People's Daily reported.

So far, 28 heads of state and government including Russian President Vladimir Putin, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and over 80 leaders of international organisations have agreed to take part in the forum.

Chinese President Xi Jinping will attend the opening ceremony and deliver a keynote speech as well as host a round table meeting that will brainstorm on policy and strategic development and interconnected development.

In addition to the round-table meeting, another high level meeting will be held to discuss various topics including infrastructure, trade and economic cooperation, energy resources, financial cooperation, eco-environment and people-to-people exchanges.

Proposed by President Xi in 2013, the forum is now in its fourth year and is of great importance to global governance and international endeavour to make globalisation more inclusive.

Wang said the upcoming edition will be the highest level international forum to be held since the proposal of the initiative.