Chinese President Xi Jinping (right) and other leaders attend the opening ceremony of the Belt and Road Forum at the China National Convention Centre in Beijing on Sunday. (EPA/Kremlin pool photo)BEIJING - Chinese President Xi Jinping pledged US$124 billion on Sunday for his ambitious new Silk Road plan, saying everyone was welcome to join what he envisioned would be a path for peace and prosperity for the world. "We should build an open platform of cooperation and uphold and grow an open world economy," Xi told the opening of a summit on the new Silk Road. Xi pledged a massive funding boost to the new Silk Road, including an extra 100 billion yuan ($14.50 billion) into the existing Silk Road Fund, 250 billion yuan in loans from China Development Bank, 130 billion yuan in loans from Export-Import Bank of China, 60 billion yuan in aid to developing countries and international institutions in new Silk Road countries, encouraging financial institutions to expand their overseas yuan fund businesses to the tune of 300 billion yuan, 2 billion yuan in emergency food aid, $1 billion to a South–South Cooperation fund and $1 billion for cooperation projects in countries on the new Silk Road. China formally calls the scheme in English the Belt and Road initiative.

Source: Bangkok Post May 14, 2017 03:00 UTC