BEIJING: Chinese President Xi Jinping has said that the One Belt, One Road Initiative is a mega project to connect the world through economic integration.

He was addressing the Leaders' Roundtable Conference in the Belt and Road Forum that began in Beijing on Monday.

“We should adopt a free trade policy to enhance business links with each other,” said the Chinese president, adding that peace and stability is imperative for the progress and prosperity of the world.

Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif is also attending the roundtable conference and will attend both of its sessions.

In the second session of round table conference the leaders will discuss "Connectivity cooperation for inter connected development".

Meanwhile, China has signed an agreement with twenty-six countries to jointly address the pressing challenges of financing gap for projects under the Belt and Road Initiative.  

The agreement aims to create a long-term and stable financing mechanism to break a “funding bottleneck” for development work under CPEC.

China has also signed memoranda of understanding with six multilateral development financial institutions, including the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, to strengthen financing coordination for the Belt and Road Initiative.