The second Belt and Road Summit will be held in Beijing this week, with 37 state and government leaders expected to attend. The first summit was held in 2017. Over 5,000 participants from more than 150 countries are scheduled to attend the three-day event, which starts on April 25, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told reporters at a news conference. President Xi Jinping will deliver the keynote speech at the forum’s opening ceremony and chair the leaders’ roundtable summit. Wang said that the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative is not a geopolitical tool or a debt trap for participating countries, but a platform for cooperation. He said the initiative has delivered real benefits for participating countries. The “debt trap” label cannot be applied to the Belt and Road, and no participating country would agree with that designation, Wang added. He said comments about the BRI should be based on facts.

Trade volume between China and countries participating in the BRI has exceeded USD6 trillion, investments have grown to over USD80 billion and around 300,000 jobs have been created in the countries involved in the initiative. Minister Wang Yi said the BRI has an open, inclusive and win-win nature, and China welcomes any country to take part. “All countries have the freedom to attend, but I think no country has the right to prevent any other country from participating. This is an open, inclusive platform,” he said. The BRI was proposed by Chinese President Xi Jinping in 2013. Since its launch, 29 international organizations and 126 countries have signed 174 cooperation documents with China on the BRI, the China Daily reports.