Follow us on:   

China committed to global infrastructure centre: Xi
November 16, 2014, 9:43 am

Chinese President Xi Jinping urged that the World Bank should set up a global infrastructure fund [G20, Australia]

Chinese President Xi Jinping urged that the World Bank should set up a global infrastructure fund [G20, Australia]

In a speech at the second day of the G20 Summit in Brisbane, Australia, Chinese President Xi Jinping urged that the World Bank should set up a global infrastructure fund. The Asian Development Bank has estimated that in the next decade Asian countries will need $8 trillion in infrastructure investments to maintain the current economic growth rate.

On Sunday, the leaders of the Group of 20 announced a plan to boost global growth by more than $2 trillion over five years, adding an extra 2.1 percentage points to global growth during the period.

Chinese President Xi said in Brisbane today that Beijing would make its contribution to a global infrastructure initiative launched by the G20 through the establishment of a Silk Road economic belt, a Silk Road fund, a 21st century maritime “silk road”, and an Asian Infrastructure investment bank, projects that China already launched in the last few months.

China, last week, set up a $40 billion Silk Road Fund to strengthen connectivity in the Asia-Pacific region. Xi said the goal of the Fund is to “break the bottleneck in Asian connectivity by building a financing platform.”

“The Silk Road boasts a 3-billion population and a market that is unparalleled both in scale and potential,” Xi said in September last year.

The Silk Road connected China and Europe from around 100 B.C. The 4,000-mile road linked ancient Chinese, Indian, Babylonian, Arabic, Greek and Roman civilizations.

On Sunday in Brisbane, Xi urged G20 member to “oppose trade and investment protectionism”. The Chinese President echoed calls by BRICS leaders including Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff that emerging economies and developing countries must have a greater representation in global financial institutions like the IMF and the World Bank.

 

TBP