CHINA'S COMMITMENT TO GLOBAL GROWTH
Xi pledged that China's development will continue to offer opportunities to business communities in other countries.
In the coming five years, China is expected to import 8 trillion U.S. dollars of goods, attract 600 billion dollars of foreign investment, and make 750 billion dollars of outbound investment, said the president, adding that Chinese tourists will make 700 million overseas visits.
China will keep its door wide open, Xi said, voicing hope that other countries will also keep their door open to Chinese investors and keep the playing field level for them.
"China has been a locomotive of growth, especially for the emerging world, but really for the whole world," said Nariman Behravesh, chief economist at IHS, a consulting firm. "More positive perspective of China is an accurate one."
On the progress of the Belt and Road Initiative, Xi told the audience that China's circle of friends along the Belt and Road is growing bigger, and Chinese investment in the countries along the routes has surpassed 50 billion dollars in the past three years.
Over 100 countries and international organizations have given warm responses and support to the initiative, and more than 40 have signed cooperation agreements with China, said the Chinese president, who put forward the initiative in 2013.
Meanwhile, Chinese companies have launched a number of major projects in the countries along the routes, spurring the economic development of these countries and creating many local jobs, Xi noted.
The Belt and Road Initiative, envisioned as an infrastructure and trade network connecting Asia with Europe and Africa along ancient trade routes, originated in China, but it has delivered benefits well beyond its borders, he said.
China plans to host a Belt and Road forum for international cooperation in Beijing this May to brainstorm on interconnected development, the president announced.
The upcoming forum will explore ways to address regional and global economic problems, generate fresh energy for interconnected development, and ensure that the Belt and Road Initiative delivers greater benefits to the people of the countries involved, Xi said.
Xi arrived in Switzerland on Sunday for a four-day state visit and the WEF annual meeting, which is themed "Responsive and Responsible Leadership" this year and expected to draw together about 50 heads of state and 1,700 political, business, academic and media leaders from across the world.
In his first overseas trip in 2017, Xi will also travel to Lausanne and Geneva to visit the International Olympic Committee, the World Health Organization and the UN Office at Geneva.
