Beijing: Chinese President Xi Jinping on Sunday concluded a two-day gathering of leaders from three dozen governments to celebrate his Belt and Road Initiative.
Xi has tried to dispel complaints that the sprawling infrastructure-building initiative does too little for developing African and Asian countries that have built ports, railways and other facilities with Chinese loans.
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On Sunday, he separately addressed Pakistan's Prime Minister Imran Khan, Djiboutian President Ismail Omar Guelleh, Czech President Milos Zeman, and former Kazakhstan President Nursultan Nazarbayev in Beijing's Great Hall of the People.
Xi specifically praised the development of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor and thanked the Czech Republic for strengthening China-Czech relations.
The upbeat tone of the two-day forum, at which leaders including Russian President Vladimir Putin praised Belt and Road, is a setback for Washington, which is trying to discourage other governments from participating.
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