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BEIJING, May 15-- Chinese President Xi Jinping on Monday elaborated on what had inspired him to come up with the Belt and Road Initiative, stressing that it is aimed at galvanizing global cooperation and is open to all. Xi made the remarks at the Leaders' Roundtable Summit at the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation in Beijing. "The Belt and Road development does not shut out, nor is it directed against, any party," Xi told the summit. Proposed in 2013, the Belt and Road Initiative is a grand plan to connect Asia with Europe and Africa along, and beyond, ancient trade routes by putting in place an unparalleled trade and infrastructure network. At Monday's summit, Xi spoke of the myriad challenges the world faces: sluggish trade and investment, wobbling economic globalization, increasingly unbalanced development, impact from large-scale migration of refugees and immigrants, as well as wars, conflicts and terrorism. Countries are exploring their own ways to deal with these challenges and have put forward many good development strategies and initiatives, but it is difficult to rely on a single country to manage or solve the global problems, Xi said, citing the inter-dependence between nations. Only by aligning their policies and integrating economic factors and resources in a global scale can countries create synergy to promote world peace, stability and shared development, he noted. | 
