US isolated as world leaders open Silk Road summit in China

Nearly 40 world leaders and scores of finance officials are gathered in Beijing to build a new platform for international trade and counter US unilateralism and protectionist policies.

Dubbed as the Belt and Road (BRI) initiative, they aim to reinvent the ancient Silk Road to connect Asia to Europe and Africa through massive investments in maritime, road and rail projects.

Some 5,000 delegates are attending the three-day forum, with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte, whose country became the first G7 member to sign up to BRI, among the headliners.

The United States has not dispatched any officials, dismissing BRI as a "vanity project" and rebuking Rome for participating in the scheme.

However, traditional US allies such as the UK, France, Germany and Spain have sent ministers to the summit amid reports of European frustration with Washington's trade practices. 

British Finance Minister Philip Hammond told the summit on Friday his country is committed to help realize the BRI potential, offering Britain's expertise in project financing.

"The Belt and Road Initiative has tremendous potential to spread prosperity and sustainable development, touching as it does, potentially 70 percent of the world's population, a project of truly epic ambition," he said. 

German Economy Minister Peter Altmaier said major European Union countries want to sign a memorandum of understanding on the BRI initiative as a group.

President Putin called for a global response against protectionism, unilateral sanctions and "trade wars" in veiled criticisms of the United States.

"The rise of protectionism in its most dangerous form, which at the present time is often used illegitimately as unilateral restrictions to bypass the UN Security Council, or worst of all, trade wars," he said.

"We think that only when we are united can we counter such acute challenges amidst a global economic slowdown and gaps between countries in terms of well-being and technology," Putin added.

The Russian leader whom Chinese President Xi Jinping referred to as "my closest friend" in a speech at the ceremony, was conferred an honorary doctorate degree from the Chinese premier's alma mater. 

BRI offers to bring much-needed modern infrastructure to developing countries and China’s spending has increased its footprint around the world.