"This year, Russian President Vladimir Putin will attend the Belt And Road forum in Beijing. China's Chairman Xi Jinping is preparing to carry out a state visit to Russia," Wang told an annual press conference on the sidelines of the Chinese parliament's congress.
Last December, Xi accepted the invitation of Russian President Vladimir Putin to attend the 2019 St. Petersburg International Economic Forum in Russia, saying he would participate in the event with pleasure.
China's Belt and Road Initiative is one of President Xi Jinping's most ambitious foreign policy plans, described by Beijing's Foreign Minister Wang Yi as a "symphony performed by all relevant countries." The Initiative embodies China's aspirations to boost trade and economic growth across Asia and beyond.
Last May, Xi invited world leaders to Beijing for an inaugural summit at which he promised to allocate $124 billion for the project. Historically, China's Silk Road was an ancient network of trade routes that for centuries were indispensable to cultural interaction across Eurasia, connecting East and West.