China has outlined an ambitious project to help global growth. President Xi has promised to invest $124 billion to increase global trade along the old Silk Road route. He spoke about the plan at a meeting of 29 world leaders, as well as the heads of the UN, IMF and World Bank. Xi stated that the new plan aimed to expand trade between Asia, Africa, Europe and beyond. He said the project would invest billions of dollars in infrastructure and help with the free flow of goods. He told those at the summit that: "Trade is the important engine of economic development."
President Xi said increased global trade and cooperation would make the world more peaceful. He said: "We will not re-tread the old path of games between foes. Instead we will create a new model of cooperation and mutual benefit." Pakistan's Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had good words to say about President Xi's "vision". He said the huge scale of the cooperation and economic partnerships and investments were a world first. He added: "We stand at the cusp of a geo-economic revolution." Britain's finance minister said his country was a "natural partner" of the project.