China Holds Smaller Belt and Road Summit as Europe Avoids It, but the Taliban Attends

The scale of the summit has significantly shrunk, along with the decrease of China’s investment in the BRI.

Chinese leader Xi Jinping, Russian President Vladimir Putin, and other leaders pose for a group photo at the third Belt and Road Forum in Beijing on Oct. 18, 2023. Suo Takekuma-Pool/Getty Images

China held the third Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) summit in Beijing on Oct. 17–18.

This year marks the 10th anniversary of Beijing’s launch of its grand foreign policy project to expand its political influence around the world through huge investments in infrastructures in other countries. However, the scale of the summit has significantly shrunk, along with the decrease of China’s investment in the BRI.