Summary

1. China’s leader Xi Jinping is hosting a conference in Beijing to mark 10 years of his Belt and Road Initiative (BRI)
2. Russian President Vladimir Putin and the Taliban are expected to attend the two-day gathering
3. Xi has stood by Putin, who has become increasingly isolated since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine over a year ago
4. Xi is expected to chart the way forward for BRI, which he has positioned as an alternative to Western-led development
5. China has kept the details of the BRI summit largely under wraps
6. The trillion-dollar BRI aims to bring China closer to the world through infrastructure and investments
7. More than 145 countries have signed up, accounting for three-quarters of the world’s population and half of the globe’s total wealth