The Silk Road Cultural Journey in Jingyang, Shaanxi Province, Sept. 19, 2014. The Silk Road economic belt is an apparatus used by China to help boost its economy as well as its neighboring countries'. (Photo : Reuters)
As part of President Xi Jinping's Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road initiatives, both launched in 2013, a preparatory meeting was held in Beijing on Jan. 25, Sunday, to look into the funding of the "One Belt, One Road" initiative.
Coordinated by the China Energy Fund Committee (CEFC), the meeting announced the establishment of the Energy Development Fund, consisting of an estimated amount worth over $20 billion.
The CEFC is a Hong Kong-based think tank that is involved in global energy cooperation, and is working with Beijing after the latter called upon private companies to provide capital for the energy infrastructure of countries along the routes of "One Belt, One Road."
The think tank's deputy chairman and secretary-general is Patrick C.P. Ho, who informed the media on Sunday that the Energy Development Fund was initiated by private Chinese enterprises that intend to raise $20 billion from the private sector-government funds and foreign investors will also be asked to contribute.
Prior to the Nov. 2014 summit of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), the Chinese president announced a $40-billion contribution for a Silk Road Fund. Xi said at the time that the fund will primarily be invested in infrastructure, resources and industrial and financial cooperation, while the goal of the fund is to "break the connectivity bottleneck" in Asia. Xi explained that the fund is "open" to investors throughout the continent.
Ho told reporters that the Energy Development Fund would complement the Silk Road Fund by providing a channel for private companies to invest in the development of energy infrastructure. According to the deputy chair, numerous foreign investors have shown interest in the Energy Development Fund.
