Belt and Road in Numbers

The Beijing Belt and Road Summit closed on Monday evening to great fanfare, so what was achieved?

Here is the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) in numbers – the summit was attended by 30 world leaders, with representatives from 57 countries (full list published in the Diplomat), plus international organisations, including the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, bringing the official BRI delegation to 68 sovereigns and multinationals. According to news agency Xinhua, 130 countries were represented in some capacity, with 1,200 people attending.

China’s investment into BRI projects in these countries has exceeded $US50 billion to date, and it was announced a further $US14.5bn will be invested into the Silk Road Fund. The China Development Bank announced a fund of $US36.2 billion, and Export-Import Bank will lend $US18.8 billion for new BRI projects. China has also pledged a further $US8.7 billion for humanitarian projects in BRI countries. The total pledge from Chinese President Xi Jinping for the BRI is $US124 billion, reports Reuters.

China National Petroleum Corporation signed $US20bn worth of energy deals with Saudi Arabia, Azerbaijan, and Russia, according to Bloomberg.

BRI loan deals were signed with ASEAN countries including Indonesia and Malaysia, and a Free Trade Agreement was signed between China and Georgia, reports the Diplomat.

Both the US and North Korea attended the summit, but India notably did not attend in protest of the financing of $US57bn China-Pakistan trade corridor through Kashmir.

A second Belt and Road Summit will be held in 2019.