Xi told Garibashvili that China was ready to push forward with building the belt and road with Georgia. He added that Beijing welcomed more exports from the country and encouraged more Chinese companies to invest there.

Xi said the two countries were set to announce that bilateral relations would be upgraded to a “strategic partnership” during Garibashvili’s trip to China, according to state news agency Xinhua.

Xi set to welcome world leaders to China for delayed World University Games

In the meeting with his Guyanese counterpart, Xi said Beijing was willing to further align the belt and road strategy and the South American nation’s low-carbon development strategy.

According to Xi, China encourages its companies to expand cooperation with Guyana in areas such as energy, mining, finance, agriculture, fisheries and infrastructure construction.

With a population of about 800,000 people, Guyana has emerged as the world’s fastest-growing oil producer since it first discovered the resource in 2015.

US Democratic Party senators took the Biden administration to task at a hearing on Wednesday for its diplomatic approach towards Latin America, accusing it of losing ground to China as the Asian giant builds clout in the region.

China signed belt and road cooperation agreements with Georgia in 2015 and Guyana in 2018.

Beijing has always said that the initiative would benefit the rest of the world and lift millions out of poverty, but critics, including Washington and several major European countries, have expressed concern that Beijing’s real motive was to gain more power and influence on the world stage.

In the meeting with Widodo, Xi hailed the two “like-minded” Asian neighbours, which had made “major achievements” in aligning Beijing’s belt and road plan and Jakarta’s global maritime axis, a strategy to develop port infrastructure and strengthen maritime security.

Indonesia was where Xi launched the idea of the “21st century Maritime Silk Road” a decade ago, one of the two major pillars of the belt and road.

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Is Indonesia’s China-made railway on track to launch? Jakarta says it’s ‘under control’

Is Indonesia’s China-made railway on track to launch? Jakarta says it’s ‘under control’

Widodo said that the high-speed railway linking Jakarta and Bandung – a cornerstone project of the belt and road – would come into operation on schedule next month. He also praised “many concrete advances” in bilateral collaboration since the Group of 20 summit in Bali in November.

After their meeting, the two countries on Thursday signed a series of bilateral cooperation documents on Indonesian agricultural exports to China, health, research and technology, industrial estates and Indonesia’s development of a new capital.

Indonesia is the chair of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations this year and the largest economy in the bloc. Beijing is Jakarta’s largest trade and investment partner.

Xi also met and discussed the belt and road with Mauritanian President Mohamed Ould Cheikh Ghazouani and Burundian President Evariste Ndayishimiye on Friday. China and Mauritania signed a cooperation plan to jointly promote building the belt and road on Friday.

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The leaders came to the southwestern Chinese city of Chengdu for the opening ceremony of the International University Sports Federation (Fisu) Summer World University Games on Friday night.

Chengdu is the third city in mainland China to host the biennial summer games, following Beijing in 2001 and Shenzhen in 2011.

In a welcome banquet with the five foreign leaders as well as Fisu acting president Leonz Eder on Friday, Xi called for an attitude of “appreciation and mutual learning” towards diverse cultures.

Beijing announced on Monday that Fijian Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka would also attend the opening ceremony, but he later had to cancel the visit to China after falling and hurting his head.