Chinese President Xi Jinping surprised an audience of world leaders as he outlined China's decision to modify the Belt and Road Initiative in crucial areas including: project selection, environmental risk assessment and financing. He was speaking at the second Belt and Road Forum, which convened April 26 in Beijing.
China's BRI features ambitious plans to build modern-day Silk Road connectivity projects, such as seaports, airports, railways and roads across 60 countries covering all continents at a colossal cost of $900 billion. Developing countries have offered some support, but the scheme has been widely criticized on a number of counts in developed countries.