The Belt and Road initiative refers to the land-based Silk Road Economic Belt and sea-based 21st Maritime Silk Road proposed by Chinese President Xi Jinping in 2013.During his state visit to Kazakhstan,in a speech at Nazarbayev University on September 7,2013,President Xi proposed that China and Central Asia join hands to build a Silk Road economic belt to boost cooperation.The following month,on October 3,in his address to the Indonesian Parliament Xi proposed a 21st Century Maritime Silk Road as a new maritime silk road connecting China with the members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN),South Asian countries,Africa and Europe.