International
Some observers have interpreted the UK’s Brexit vote as beating the retreat from globalisation, but the British government says it’s determined to find new economic partners from further afield. This quest took Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond to Beijing in mid-May for Chinese President Xi Jinping’s summit on the Belt and Road initiative.
Belt and Road is Xi’s visionary plan that seeks to solidify China’s trade route through central Asia to Europe through a myriad of infrastructure projects. Hammond was lavish in his praise when he said, “This initiative is truly ground-breaking in the scale of its ambition…and it has the potential to raise the living standards of 70 percent of the global population.” The Chancellor was also careful to talk up the UK by emphasising that “Britain, lying at the Western end of the Belt and Road, is a natural partner in this endeavour.”