The multi-polar world comes to China to talk business

World leaders, including Russia’s President Putin have been attending meetings in Beijing as part of the ‘One Belt–One Road’ initiatives launched by China in 2013.
The ambitious project aims to set up transport and trade corridors that will help connect East-Asia, Eurasia and Europe, using both rail and maritime links.
China’s goals represent the most ambitious project to re-define the logistical and financial nature of world-trade since the creation of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) in 1995.
Chinese President Xi Jinping opened the meetings saying,

“Spanning thousands of miles and years, the ancient silk routes embody the spirit of peace and cooperation, openness and inclusiveness, mutual learning and mutual benefit.
The Silk Road spirit has become a great heritage of human civilisation”.

Russia is keenly interested in using this project to facilitate energy trade between Russia and its eastern partners including China, Mongolia, Japan and Korea.
President Putin called One Belt-One Road, named for China’s ancient silk road, a “Civilization project for the future”.
He went on to state,

“We cannot resolve modern challenges by using old approaches. We need new ideas. We need to abandon all stereotypes.
We should set a role model for the global community of how we can work together, develop together, based on equality and respect for national sovereignty based on international law and the United Nations principles”.

Turkey’s President Erdogan meanwhile said that the project would “pave the way in a new era”.
The projects logistics are immense and any project of this size will not come to fruition in a day. This is especially true as the countries leading the project seek cooperation and consent. Intimation and domination, hallmarks of western economic imperialism, are off the table.
President Xi made this abundantly clear. The Chinese President said,

“We have no intentions to meddle in the internal affairs of other countries via bringing our social system and the development model, or by imposing our will (on other states)”.

However, the political implications are clear. While the leaders of China, Russia, India, Turkey, Pakistan, Philippines, Indonesia,Vietnam, Myanmar and others gathered in Beijing, the leaders of the United States and Europe’s largest economies were notably absent. Instead, these countries sent minor officials.

The multi-polar world is moving on and going forward. What’s more is that it is doing so with neither the permission nor even the participation of western leaders.
The global future will be increasingly determined by the countries who have enthusiastically participated in the One Belt-One Road forum. Those who stayed home may see their hegemonic grip on the globe erode.
Below is a full list of representatives of each state present at the meeting:

  1. Afghanistan: Unspecified minister-level delegation
  2. Argentina: President Mauricio Macri
  3. Australia: Trade Minister Steve Ciobo
  4. Azerbaijan: Economy Minister Shahin Mustafayev
  5. Bangladesh: Unspecified minister-level delegation
  6. Belarus: President Alexander Lukashenko
  7. Brazil: Secretary for Strategic Affairs Hussein Ali Kalout
  8. Cambodia: Prime Minister Hun Sen
  9. Chile: President Michelle Bachelet
  10. China: President Xi Jinping
  11. Czech Republic: President Milos Zeman
  12. Egypt: Trade and Industry Minister Tarek Kabil
  13. Ethiopia: Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn
  14. Fiji: Prime Minister Josaia Voreqe Bainimarama
  15. Finland:  Minister of Transport and Communications of Finland Anne Berner
  16. France: Jean-Pierre Raffarin, chairman of the Committee on Foreign Relations, Defense and Armed Forces in the French Senate
  17. Germany: Minister of Economic Affairs Brigitte Zypries
  18. Greece: Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras
  19. Hungary: Prime Minister Viktor Orban
  20. Indonesia: President Joko Widodo
  21. Iran: Minister of Economy and Finance Ali Tayebnia
  22. Italy: Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni
  23. Japan: LDP Secretary General Toshihiro Nikai
  24. Kazakhstan: President Nursultan Nazarbayev
  25. Kenya: President Uhuru Kenyatta
  26. Kyrgyzstan: President Almazbek Atambayev
  27. Kuwait: Minister of the Amiri Diwan Affairs Sheikh Nasser Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber
  28. Laos: President Bounnhang Vorachith
  29. Malaysia: Prime Minister Najib Razak
  30. Maldives: Economic Minister Mohamed Saeed
  31. Mongolia: Prime Minister Jargaltulga Erdenebat
  32. Myanmar: State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi
  33. Romania: Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Environment Gratiela Gavrilescu
  34. Nepal: Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Krishna Bahadur Mahara
  35. New Zealand:  Science and Innovation Minister Paul Goldsmith
  36. North Korea: Confirmed to be sending an official delegation;  the delegation will be led by Kim Yong-jae, the North Korean minister of external economic relations, according to a number of South Korean media reports
  37. Pakistan: Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif
  38. Philippines: President Rodrigo Duterte
  39. Poland: Prime Minister Beata Szydło
  40. Russia: President Vladimir Putin
  41. Saudi Arabia: Minister of Energy, Industry, and Mineral Resources Khalid Al-Falih
  42. Serbia: Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic
  43. Singapore: Minister for National Development and Second Minister for Finance Lawrence Wong
  44. South Korea: Ambassador to China Kim Jang-sooPark Byeong-seug, National Assembly member for the Democratic Party
  45. Spain: Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy
  46. Sri Lanka: Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe
  47. Switzerland: President Doris Leuthard
  48. Syria: unspecificed minister-level delegation
  49. Thailand: five ministers: Minister of Foreign Affairs Don Pramudwinai, Minister of Transportation Arkhom Termpittayapaisith, Minister of Commerce Apiradi Tantraporn, Minister of Digital for Economy and Society Pichet Durongkaveroj, and Minister of Science and Technology Atchaka Sibunruang
  50. Tunisia: Culture Minister Mohamed Zine El-Abidine
  51. Turkey: President Recep Tayyip Erdogan
  52. UAE: Dr. Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, Minister of State and Group CEO of ADNOC
  53. Ukraine: unspecified official delegation
  54. United Kingdom: Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond
  55. United States: Matt Pottinger, National Security Council senior director for Asia
  56. Uzbekistan: President Shavkat Mirziyoyev
  57. Vietnam: President Tran Dai Quang

 
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