Xi calls for accelerated efforts to construct Silk Road Belt

Buoyed by the successful launch of Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank in which India along with 20 other countries joined, Chinese President Xi Jinping today called for accelerating efforts to construct Silk Road Economic Belt, saying that the two are complementary.
"China will accelerate the construction of the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road (MSR) and strengthen cooperation with the countries involved," Xi told a meeting of the Central Leading Group on Financial and Economic Affairs here.
"We should prepare timetables and road maps for the coming years for the 'One Belt and One Road' project," Xi said.

"We will focus on some significant projects and let the construction of 'One Belt and One Road' commence as soon as possible," he said, adding that the cooperation between China and the countries involved would be mutually beneficial, state-run Xinhua News Agency reported.
He also referred to the recent launch of the AIIB and said it is complementary to his efforts to launch the Silk Road economic belt.
"The AIIB and the Silk Road Fund are complementary rather than substitutive to global-and-regional-development banks," said the president, adding that both the bank and the fund would work transparently and in accordance with international conventions.

A total of 21 Asian countries, including India, signed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to join AIIB as founding members last month.

The bank, headquartered at Beijing, has a authorised capital of USD 100 billion.
The Silk Road Economic Belt and the MSR were initiated by Xi in 2013. Bangladesh, China, India, Myanmar (BCIM) corridor was regarded as part of the Silk Road initiative.
However, India is yet to decide if it wants to be associated with the MSR, awaiting final plan to be announced by China.