China began receiving representatives from 130 countries this Monday for an international conference on its Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) development project, through which Russian President Vladimir Putin will make his first departure from the country to a power. world since the war with Ukraine began in 2022. The BRI, a global infrastructure development and market integration program, launched a decade ago and is seen as President Xi Jinping's key project to extend China's global reach, who hopes the forum will help boost its position as a power. world in the midst of its struggle with the United States for technological supremacy. Putin heads the guest list for this Third Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation, which will begin next Tuesday in Beijing. His trip is the first to a major world power since the war with Ukraine, which broke out on February 24, 2022 with a Russian invasion, led to Russia's diplomatic isolation in the West.