The 1st Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation was held between 14 and 15 May 2017 in Beijing, China. The summit drew 29 foreign heads of state and government and representatives from more than 130 countries and 70 international organizations.
Agenda and activities
The purpose of the forum is described by Wang Xiaotao, deputy head of the National Development and Reform Commission, in an interview with Xinhua as building "a more open and efficient international cooperation platform; a closer, stronger partnership network; and to push for a more just, reasonable and balanced international governance system." Western media coverage portrays the forum in a similar way with CNN referring to the event under the headline "China's new world order" and the Los Angeles Times running the article "Globalization 2.0: How China's two-day summit aims to shape a new world order".
At the Forum's opening ceremony, Chinese leader Xi Jinping emphasized the importance of developing a Digital Silk Road:
We should pursue innovation-driven development and intensify cooperation in frontier areas such as digital economy, artificial intelligence, nanotechnology, and quantum computing, and advance the development of big data, cloud computing, and smart cities, so as to turn them into a Digital Silk Road of the 21st Century.
Participants and representatives
Heads of state and government
People's Republic of China (Host):
- CCP General Secretary & President Xi Jinping
- Premier Li Keqiang
- Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli
The forum is attended by 29 foreign heads of state and government and their respective delegations:
Heads of international organizations
- Secretary-General of the United Nations, António Guterres
- World Bank President, Jim Yong Kim
- Managing director of the International Monetary Fund, Christine Lagarde
- Director-General of the International Renewable Energy Agency, Adnan Z. Amin
- Executive Chairman of the World Economic Forum, Klaus Schwab
- President of the United Nations General Assembly, Peter Thomson
- Secretary General of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, Enzo Quattrociocche
- Interpol Secretary General Jürgen Stock
- Director General of the World Trade Organization Roberto Azevêdo
- Director-General of UNESCO Irina Bokova
- Secretary General of CIS Sergei Lebedev
- Director General of the World Health Organization Margaret Chan
Ministerial level
The online magazine The Diplomat documents the following incomplete list of ministerial level attendees.
Venues
In 2017, the events were held at National Convention Center in the urban Chaoyang District and Yanqi Lake International Convention Center and Jixian hall at Yanqi Lake Conference Center in the outer suburb Huairou District.
References
