Xi: OBOR goes beyond economic arrangements

Opening a two-day meeting with leaders from 29 countries and officials from dozens more on hand, President Xi Jinping said Sunday his plan to knit Asia, Europe and Africa more closely through infrastructure will require going beyond economic and financial arrangements. To ensure success, he said, countries should give up old alliances and create a new international security framework, The Wall Street Journal reports. Xi portrayed China as a committed free trader and pledged more than $100 billion in new financing and assistance for projects and countries involved in the Silk Road revival. Xi said over the last three years China has invested more than $50 billion in Silk Road countries, and Chinese officials have branded the venture as a new form of globalization, one that is more inclusive and fairer than previous tides of world commerce. On hand to endorse Mr. Xi’s vision were the presidents of Russia, Turkey, the Philippines and Indonesia, as well as leaders from Greece and Hungary to Chile and Argentina.