Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation
The Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation (also known as the Belt and Road Forum or BaRF) is an international political and economical forum of the Belt and Road Initiative held on 14–15 May 2017 and 25–27 April 2019 in Beijing. 2017. The first event was on 14 and 15 May 2017 in Beijing, and drew 29 foreign heads of state and government and representatives from more than 130 countries and 70 international organizations. Agenda and activities. The purpose of the forum is described by Wang Xiaotao, deputy head of the National  Development and Reform Commission, in an interview with Xinhua as building "a more open and efficient international cooperation platform; a closer, stronger partnership network; and to push for a more just, reasonable and balanced international governance system." Western media coverage portrays the forum in a similar way with CNN referring to the event under the headline "China's new world order" and the "Los Angeles Times" running the article "Globalization 2.0: How China's two-day summit aims to shape a new world order". The forum will be a platform for working out action plans for implementation of the initiative  in the areas of infrastructure, energy and resources, production capacity, trade and investment and identification of major projects. It is also intended to be an opportunity for the signing of cooperation agreements with countries and international organizations in the areas of financial cooperation mechanism; a cooperation platform for science, technology and environmental protection; and enhanced exchanges and training of talent and financing agreements for backing projects. Attendance. Heads of state and government The forum is attended by 29 foreign heads of state and government and their respective delegations: Heads of international organizations Ministerial level The online magazine "The Diplomat" documents  the following incomplete list of ministerial level attendees. Venues. In 2017 the events were held at National Convention Center in the urban Chaoyang District and Yanqi Lake International Convention Center and Jixian hall at Yanqi Lake Conference Center in the outer suburb Huairou District. 2019. A second Belt and Road Forum was held from 25 to 27 April 2019 in Beijing.