Xinhua quoted Ye Hailin of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences as saying that Maldives was "a key link of the Maritime Silk Road", and China planned to utilise its ports. Analysts pointed out that the newly-formed BRICS bank and Asian Development and Investment Bank (ADIB), could be involved in funding maritime infrastructure, including ports and investment parks, as well as energy and information technology hubs in countries belonging to the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN), and South Asia, under the MSR initiative. In a signed article that was widely published in the local media in the Maldives, Xi Jinping said, he hoped to "map out the blueprint" of the relationship with Male during talks with his Maldivian counterpart, Abdullan Yameen.