Xi Jinping planned to use the Belt and Road Forum, held in Beijing on May 14-15, 2017, to send two main messages. The first to a Chinese domestic audience as in the run up to the Nineteenth Party Congress in October/November this year, Xi Jinping needs to demonstrate his international leadership credentials and prove that he can defend China’s interests on the world stage. It sought to build on two earlier events i.e. the World Economic Forum in Davos in January 2017, where he  became the first Chinese leader to ever attend and championed the importance of economic globalization; and the Summit with US President Trump at Mar-a-Lago in April 2017, where he was able to stabilize China’s most important bilateral relationship.  

Xi Jinping has other events planned before the Nineteenth Party Congress where he will try and promote his stature. These are:

a trip to Hong Kong in July to mark the twentieth anniversary of its return to Chinese sovereignty; attending the G20 leaders meeting in Hamburg, Germany; taking the salute at a high-profile military parade in August to celebrate the ninetieth anniversary of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA);  and convening the 2017 BRICS Summit in September in Xiamen city where he formerly served as Vice Mayor. 

The second message that Xi Jinping hoped to send out at the Belt and Road Forum was to the international community. He sought  to position China as the leader of global development and attempt to establish a positive narrative for global growth and economic development under China’s leadership. The attempt is to frame it as an Eastern-led initiative that is more inclusive and equitable than the brand of globalization currently being rejected across the Western world. The BRI,  a Chinese initiative, marks a new phase in China’s role in the world.