China Allocates $40Bln for New Silk Road Fund - Entrepreneur

China hopes that the new Silk Road will boost political ties from the Pacific to the Baltic Sea and cut barriers to trade and investment.

In total, China already allocated $40 billion for the new Silk Road project fund, the Association of Chinese Entrepreneurs in Russia president said on Friday.

According to chairman Cai Guiru, China's new development concept emphasizes the creation of a new Silk Road facilitating trade between Europe and Asia.

"At the moment, $40 billion has been allocated for the Silk Road fund and development of capital projects. The first tranche of 10 billion is already on the fund's account," she said at a meeting with the Russian Federal Migration Service's chief.

She expressed hope that Russian companies would show their willingness to join the project.

"Russia should play a greater role in getting investments from this fund," Cai Guiru underscored, adding that the Russian side has not yet created a Chinese investment portfolio.

The Silk Road project linking China with Europe was introduced by Chinese President Xi Jinping in 2013.

With the project, Beijing seeks to improve political ties, create a traffic network between the Pacific Ocean and the Baltic Sea, shorten the barriers to trade and investment, and broaden settlements in national currencies.