[1/2] Chinese President Xi Jinping attends the joint press conference of the China-Central Asia Summit in Xian, Shaanxi province, China May 19, 2023.
REUTERS/Florence Lo/Pool/File PhotoBEIJING, Aug 12 (Reuters) - Chinese state media on Saturday rejected a Western claim that developed nations were shunning the country's Belt and Road Forum, while saying most of the leaders invited this year were from developing nations.
Critics see the ambitious Belt and Road initiative - billed as recreating the ancient Silk Road to boost global trade infrastructure - as a tool for President Xi Jinping's China to spread its geopolitical and economic influence.
Italy, the sole Group of Seven nation in Belt and Road, said the decision by a previous government to join had been "atrocious".
Russian President Vladimir Putin intends to visit China in October, coinciding with the Belt and Road Forum, Russian state news agency TASS reported.
Persons:
Xi Jinping, Florence Lo, Xi Jinping's, Xi, Vladimir Putin, Ryan Woo, William Mallard
Organizations:
Central Asia Summit, REUTERS, Forum, Street, Times, Thomson
Locations:
China, Xian, Shaanxi, BEIJING, Xi Jinping's China, West, Beijing, Italy, France, Germany, Russia, Africa, Russian