[1/4] Indonesian President Joko Widodo arrives at Beijing Capital International Airport to attend the Third Belt and Road Forum in Beijing, China, October 16, 2023.
Ten years on, the most senior EU leader expected to attend the third Belt and Road (BRI) Summit this week is Hungary's populist Viktor Orban, who will join guests including Russia's Vladimir Putin and a minister of the Afghan Taliban.
Other analysts say economic slowdown both in China and globally, and rising commodity prices, have also cast a pall over the initiative.
Wang Huiyao, president of the Center for China and Globalization think tank, said the BRI had "greatly pushed forward global awareness about the infrastructure deficit".
"It's not perfect, but it’s a process, and people are gradually realising it's so important: we need to build infrastructure.
Persons:
Joko Widodo, Ken Ishii, Putin, Orban, Britain's, Viktor Orban, Russia's Vladimir Putin, Xi, Jinping, Matthew Erie, they've, Raffaello Pantucci, Ruby Osman, Tony Blair, Osman, Wang Huiyao, Wang, Joyce Zhou, Vineet Sachdev, Antoni Slodkowski, Don Durfee, Robert Birsel
Organizations:
Beijing Capital International Airport, Forum, REUTERS Acquire, Initiative, University of Oxford, Reuters, Washington, American Enterprise Institute, S.Rajaratnam School of International Studies, Tony, Tony Blair Institute for Global, Global Development Initiative, Monetary Fund, Sri, Center for, Thomson
Locations:
Beijing, China, Italy, Xi's, BEIJING, Western Europe, EU, Taiwan, United States, Ukraine, Erie, CHINA, America, Africa, Russia, Kazakhstan, Congo, Singapore, China's, Argentina, Sri Lanka, Zambia, Center for China