Saudi-Philippine Roundtable Meeting Discusses Boosting Investment Opportunities, Relations

Saudi-Philippine Roundtable Meeting Discusses Boosting Investment Opportunities, Relations

China’s Xi Promises Open Markets and Billions in New Investments for ‘Belt and Road’ Projects 

Chinese President Xi Jinping and distinguished guests arrive to attend the opening ceremony of the third Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, 18 October 2023. (EPA/Wang Ye/ Xinhua China / UK and Ireland)

Chinese President Xi Jinping promised foreign companies greater access to China’s huge market and more than $100 billion in new financing for other developing economies as he opened a forum Wednesday on his signature Belt and Road infrastructure initiative.

Xi's initiative has built power plants, roads, railroads and ports around the world and deepened China’s ties with Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Middle East.

Tt the forum’s opening ceremony at the ornate and cavernous Great Hall of the People, Xi promised that two Chinese-backed development banks – the China Development Bank and the Export–Import Bank of China – will each set up 350 billion yuan ($47.9 billion) financing windows. An additional 80 billion yuan ($11 billion) will be invested in Beijing's Silk Road Fund to support BRI projects.

“We will comprehensively remove restrictions on foreign investment access in the manufacturing sector,” Xi said.