'Silk Road'for 21st Century

China and 7 Central Asian countries have agreed to invest $19.2 billion to build a new 'Silk Road'for the 21st century, reports said recently.
The seven countries including Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kirgistan, Mongolia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan have agreed to join the project, but Russia still have to make its intention known, although it has been invited to participate in the project, the reports said.
Reports said the project will not be limited to rebuilding the ancient Silk Road, but build new highways and railways, in addition to using the 6 existing railroads connecting China and Europe.
The 8 countries including China had a high-level expert meeting in Manila early in September, and agreed on the basic plan for the project. They are also scheduled to hold a cabinet meeting in Tajikistan in November and officially approve the project, which will be kicked off next year and completed in 2018. nw