Over 130 countries, 30 global bodies to attend BRI forum

Representatives from over 130 countries and more than 30 international organizations have confirmed their plans to attend the upcoming Third Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation this month, a senior Chinese official said.

Li Kexin, director-general of the Foreign Ministry's Department of International Economic Affairs, confirmed the details at a press conference in Beijing on Tuesday.

He said the detailed schedule of this forum will be released in due course.

The forum is not only "the grandest event" to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the Belt and Road Initiative, but also an important platform for discussing BRI cooperation, the official said.

The forum's events include the opening ceremony, three high-level forums and six thematic forums. The forum will also hold an entrepreneurs' conference.

The logo of the Third Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation is seen in Beijing on Oct 9, 2023. [Photo/VCG]

Currently, more than 150 countries and 30 international organizations have signed on Belt and Road cooperation documents, according to Li.

The initiative has achieved effective synergy with respective development strategies of more than 30 countries as well as the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, he said.

China is ready to take the upcoming forum as an opportunity to make new achievements in co-building the Belt and Road in a high-quality manner, he added.

Li noted that in recent years, the international community's attention to infrastructure has been on the rise under the push by the BRI.

The initiative "aligns to the trend of world economic development and meets the urgent expectations of the majority of developing countries," he said.

The Belt and Road itself is "an important and successful practice of the international community to build a global community of a shared future", he said.