China to invest $900 billion in New Silk Road

Until now, much of what China’s revealed about its New Silk Road economic corridor that spans Central Asia and Europe has been painted in broad brushstrokes.

Officials are now giving details. The China Development Bank (CDB) unveiled plans Thursday to invest more than $890 billion in the project which goes by the official moniker of “One Belt, One Road.”

The CDB, one of China’s key policy banks, said the money will fund more than 900 projects involving 60 countries. These projects include coal and gas, mining, electricity, telecommunications, infrastructure, agriculture, and people-to-people exchanges that will help trade and capital flow.

Meanwhile, at the opening ceremony of the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) Industry Dialogue on Connectivity on Wednesday, Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli said China wants to build six economic corridors to connect Asia to Europe. The funding for this would come from the new Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank and the Silk Road Fund.

The six corridors would be China-Mongolia-Russia, New Eurasian Land Bridge, China-Central and West Asia, China-Indo-China Peninsula, China-Pakistan, and Bangladesh-China-India-Myanmar, said Zhang, according to a report in China Daily.

Government officials and company representatives from ASEM’s 53 members attended the two-day event in Chongqing city.(Asia Time)