China will hold the third edition of the Belt and Road Forum here from October 17 to 18 and President Xi Jinping will attend the opening ceremony, it was announced on Wednesday. The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is a multi-billion-dollar initiative launched by President Xi when he came to power in 2013. It aims to link Southeast Asia, Central Asia, the Gulf region, Africa and Europe with a network of land and sea routes. Under the ambitious BRI, China provides funding for major infrastructure projects around the world, in a bid to speed Chinese goods to markets further afield.
