China welcomes representatives of some 130 countries, including Russia, on Monday for the imminent New Silk Roads forum, a major diplomatic event for Beijing, but overshadowed by the Israel-Hamas war.
The New Silk Roads, or “Belt and Road” initiative according to its official name, are an ambitious project launched 10 years ago under the leadership of Chinese President Xi Jinping.
It aims to improve development and trade links between Asia, Europe and Africa through financing the construction of ports, railways, airports or industrial parks via billions of dollars in Chinese loans .
These infrastructures should also allow China to access more markets and open up new opportunities for its companies.
Russian President Vladimir Putin is one of the guests at this forum organized in Beijing on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Ahead of this visit, the head of Russian diplomacy Sergei Lavrov was received on Monday by his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi.
Mr. Lavrov will also travel to North Korea on Wednesday, his supervisory ministry said.
In an interview with Chinese television, Mr. Putin said that the New Silk Roads were a “mutually beneficial” project for China and his country.
“President Putin noted that a multipolar world is taking shape and that the concepts and initiatives put forward by President Xi Jinping are very relevant and important,” noted the English-speaking Chinese channel CGTN.
” Without limits “
China and Russia, two neighboring countries, share a common desire to counter what they present as American hegemony and have become closer since the Russian intervention in Ukraine.
Since the visit of the Chinese number one to the Kremlin last March and faced with Russia’s increased isolation, Moscow and Beijing have advocated a strengthening of their economic and military cooperation within the framework of a friendship officially described as “limitless”.
Vladimir Putin’s visit to China is his first trip to one of the world’s great powers since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, which Beijing did not condemn.
Several foreign leaders arrived in Beijing ahead of the forum, including Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, Chilean President Gabriel Boric, Kenyan William Ruto and Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, according to the official Xinhua news agency.
This diplomatic meeting from Beijing comes at a time when Israel is preparing for an offensive in Gaza against Palestinian Hamas, which is raising fears of a conflagration throughout the region.
Chinese diplomacy, which earlier this year facilitated the spectacular rapprochement between Iran and Saudi Arabia, regularly says it wants to make its contribution to the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, which has been at a standstill since 2014.
” A support “
“The fact for a head of state to be present at the summit (of the New Silk Roads, Editor’s note) is almost a support for Chinese positions on global issues,” estimates researcher Niva Yau, of the American think tank Atlantic Council.
The war between Israel and Hamas, which left thousands dead on both sides, was triggered after a bloody attack launched on October 7 by Hamas against Israeli territory from the Gaza Strip under the control of the Islamist movement. Palestinian.
China has not specifically named Hamas in its condemnations of the violence, drawing criticism from some Western officials.
Israel’s action in Gaza after the Hamas attack goes “beyond the realm of self-defense” and the Israeli government must stop “collectively punishing” Gazans, Wang Yi said this weekend.
Chinese envoy for the Middle East, Zhai Jun, is expected there this week to promote a ceasefire, state television CCTV reported on Sunday without specifying which countries he would visit.