Over the past three decades, Xi had visited the United States six times, from the cornfields of Iowa to the Annenberg Retreat at Sunnylands in California. (Photo : Reuters)
President Xi Jinping's Maritime Silk Road initiative entered another stage on Wednesday, with the start of the first day of a two-day seminar at which more than 280 academics and experts from 30 countries discussed maritime trade infrastructure in the Asian region.
The major event was held during the week after newly elected Sri Lankan president Maithripala Sirisena extended a gesture of support to Beijing and its plans for a $1.4-billion port city in Colombo, which will be constructed on the western coast of the island nation.
Hosted by the State Council Information Office (SCIO), and co-organized by the Xinhua News Agency, the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, the China International Publishing Group and the Fujian Provincial Academy of Social Sciences, the international event was opened by Jiang Jianguo, the director of China's SCIO.
The director's welcoming address acknowledged the considerable media and political coverage that President Xi's Silk Road plan, which consists of both the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, has received since it was first announced in 2013.
The significance of Jiang's statement was reinforced by the attention from analysts and academics in the prestigious Foreign Policy publication this week. FP's Keith Johnson spoke to a former U.S. naval officer based at Stanford University's Hoover Institution and an Asia-Pacific security analyst at Pacific Forum CSIS about an issue that has Washington and the region's policymakers intensely focused on Beijing's movements.
This week's seminar will surely be one of the items on the watch lists of the White House, as it will involve three roundtable sessions that will discuss the following topics: "the values and significance of the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road initiative," "working together for common development and prosperity" and "seizing fresh development opportunities and tapping new cooperation prospects."
Furthermore, the role of the media in the ongoing Silk Road campaign was also highlighted on Wednesday, as the president of the Xinhua News Agency said that it will increase Silk Road coverage, including tailored news content.
