Delegates lost and confused at China's high-profile Belt and Road Forum
- There were few takeaways for many businesspeople and reporters as they struggled to find their way through the first day of the big event
A cloud of confusion hung over the first day of China’s biggest diplomatic event of the year as businesspeople and reporters tried to find a way through an organisational muddle.
A Portuguese businessman attending on behalf of construction company said it was one of the “less-organised” events he had attended in China in recent years.
“I am very confused about this conference. I was asked to come for three days for the forum but I am only allowed to go this CEO conference today and cannot go into any panels tomorrow. I do not know what I can attend and what I cannot,” he said.
More than 1,000 businesspeople were invited to the CEO conference, the forum’s first event. It ran for three hours, involved 12 speeches and featured the signing of around 140 deals between Chinese and overseas companies. But there was not much of interest for the Portuguese businessman.
“The speeches in the CEO conference were all just very institutional ... the Chinese style, with not much real content,” he said.