13 May, 2017
Science, Innovation and Tertiary Education, Skills and Employment Minister Paul Goldsmith will travel to China tonight to represent New Zealand at the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation in Beijing.
Among those are: United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres, president of the World Bank Jim Yong Kim, and managing-director of the International Monetary Fund Christine Lagarde. The prime minister will address a Business Forum in Hong Kong.
The broader worry for India is that the "Belt and Road" initiative involving hundreds of billions of dollars over the coming decades will cement China's dominance over Asia, including India's neighborhood. Many countries who are now engaged in territorial disputes with China over the South China Sea issue, including Vietnam and Indonesia, are also sending official delegations.
"We believe that Sino-U.S. economic cooperation is the trend of the times".
China has publically already committed vast sums of money to the vision and established a new global financial institution to support the vision, the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), but it is not always clear what is happening on the ground.
Numerous participating countries are seeking a piece of this enormous pie when they meet Chinese leaders, policymakers and businessmen this weekend.
Appreciating the commitment and leadership of President Xi Jinping for the realization of CPEC projects, the Prime Minister said his government is making strenuous efforts for speedy implementation of the CPEC. It aims to revive ancient land and sea routes - New Silk Road and 21st Century Maritime Silk Road - to connect China with Asia, Africa and European markets.
The success of the forum will bode well for Mr Xi as he looks to consolidate power ahead of the all-important 19th party congress of the Chinese Communist Party.
The U.S. attendance was part of a deal reached between the two countries announced on Friday. Mr Moon had proposed to send special envoys to Beijing for talks on the North Korean nuclear issue as well as a row over the deployment of a USA missile shield in the South.
The announcement that a U.S. delegation would be coming to what is China's biggest diplomatic event of the year coincides with the unveiling of an important trade deal between China and the US. "And we should all wish it every success", he said. In January, President Trump withdrew the United States from the partnership, putting the future of the deal into uncertainty.
China has invited more than 100 ministers and leaders from 28 countries, representatives from 80 worldwide organisations and about 1,200 businesspeople and other participants from around the globe to the BRF. The Prime Minister is attending the moot at the invitation of President Xi Jinping.
