China’s Xi Jinping warns against decoupling & hails Belt & Road in forum

• China’s Xi Jinping warns against decoupling & hails Belt & Road in forum.
• Xi also celebrated the grand plan he initiated a decade ago.
• The forum drew representatives from over 130 countries.

Chinese President Xi Jinping issued a warning against the idea of decoupling from China, critiquing Western efforts to reduce their reliance on the Chinese economy during the opening of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) forum in Beijing.

Xi also celebrated the grand plan he initiated a decade ago, aimed at constructing global infrastructure and energy networks linking Asia, Africa, and Europe via overland and maritime routes. He emphasized that these blueprints had transformed into tangible projects.

The forum drew representatives from over 130 countries, predominantly from the Global South, and included several heads of state, with Russian President Vladimir Putin standing out as Xi’s “dear friend.”

Xi articulated a stance against unilateral sanctions, economic coercion, decoupling, and disruptions in global supply chains, asserting that “our lives will not be better, and our development will not be faster if we view the development of others as a threat and economic interdependence as a risk.”

In response to China’s geopolitical risks, intensified by threats to Taiwan, Western economies have made reducing their dependence on Chinese supply chains a top priority. The disruptions caused by the pandemic years have only increased the urgency of diversifying their supply chain sources.

Notable senior EU figures were absent from the forum although the initial goal of the BRI was to connect China with Western Europe. The only head of state from the EU in attendance was Hungary’s President Viktor Orban. Other significant participants included Haji Nooruddin Azizi, the commerce minister of the Afghan Taliban administration.

Western skepticism toward Xi’s ambitious plans is rooted in concerns about the extension of China’s global influence.

China has, at times, expressed displeasure at criticism of the BRI, attributing it to anti-Chinese bias and a desire to contain its ascent while overlooking what it claims to be genuine goodwill.

Russian President Putin lauded the BRI and encouraged global investment in the Northern Sea route to enhance trade between the East and West. A few European officials left the hall when Putin took the stage in a subsequent speech.

Xi is reorienting the Belt and Road Initiative to be smaller and greener, shifting from large-scale projects like dams to high-tech endeavors, such as digital finance and e-commerce platforms.

This shift aligns with a broader objective to foster a multipolar world order that provides the Global South with more influence, rather than one dominated by Washington and its allies.

The BRI has also increasingly focused on issues like climate change and artificial intelligence, with Xi aiming to use it as a platform to promote Chinese governance ideas and build consensus around Chinese norms and development models.

Xi reaffirmed these trends, pledging to “deepen cooperation in green infrastructure, energy, and transportation” and introducing a global initiative for artificial intelligence governance during the forum.

A European business representative, speaking anonymously for sensitivity reasons, noted on the sidelines of the ceremony that the BRI was having a positive impact on some of the participating countries and acknowledged the speeches about improving livelihoods and connectivity.

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