EUROPE DIPLOMATIC

Chinese President Xi Jinping pledged $124 billion for his ambitious new Silk Road plan, saying everyone was welcome to join what he described would be a path for peace and prosperity for the world.

China has touted what it formally calls the Belt and Road initiative as a new way to boost development since Xi put forward the plan in 2013, aiming to expand trade between Asia, Africa, Europe and beyond underpinned by billions of dollars in infrastructure investment.

“We should build an open platform of cooperation and uphold and grow an open world economy,” Xi told the opening of a summit on the new Silk Road.

“We should jointly create an environment that will facilitate opening up and development, establish a fair, equitable and transparent system of international trade and investment rules,” he added.