(24 Apr 2019) China's president and premier met world leaders in Beijing on Wednesday ahead of the opening of the Belt and Road conference showcasing a Chinese initiative to help build ports, railways and other infrastructure in the developing world.
Chinese President Xi Jinping shook hands with Myanmar State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi at the Great Hall of the People and extended his welcome.
"China and Myanmar should promote traditional friendship and close cooperation," Xi said, noting that this was Myanmar's second planned appearance at the Belt and Road conference.
Aung San Suu Kyi praised the Belt and Road, saying it would help strengthen friendship between the two countries.
"We have been involved in BRI since its inception, and we wish to be part of the process by which it will prove to be of great benefit," she said.
Xi also met Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and the Secretary General of Japan's ruling Liberal Democrats, Toshihiro Nikai, to discuss the Belt and Road initiative.
Also on Wednesday, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang met the leaders of Chile, Mongolia, Ethiopia, and the International Monetary Fund at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing.
The meetings and conference are casting a spotlight on complaints the projects leave some countries with too much debt.
Asian and African leaders plan to press for relief from politically volatile debt burdens at the Belt and Road conference that begins on Thursday in Beijing. That could bring a note of tension to an event meant to be an official celebration of President Xi Jinping's signature foreign policy initiative.
The Belt and Road has stirred anxiety in Washington, Moscow and Tokyo about Beijing's strategic ambitions as well as how projects are devised, managed and financed.
The meeting will bring together leaders or envoys from three dozen countries including Malaysia, Indonesia, Serbia, Myanmar and Kenya.
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