[ARCHIVO] President Bachelet participates in official photograph for the “One Belt, One Road” Forum
President Michelle Bachelet and her Argentine counterpart, Mauricio Macri, are the only two Latin American leaders who are participating in this meeting, which will bring together 28 heads of state as well as leaders of international agencies.
China inaugurated the “21st Century Maritime Silk Route Economic Belt” initiative in 2013 in order to increase the country’s commercial and financial integration. Since its inception, it has included European, Asian and African nations. During the November 2016 APEC meeting, President Xi Jinping invited Latin American nations to join the initiative.
China has thus far invested US$50 billion in infrastructure for development and for facilitating trade among participating countries, and has signed over 40 agreements and memoranda of understanding with 63 nations.