The Chinese President says Beijing will work with all willing participants to build the Belt and Road Initiative into a pathway to poverty alleviation and growth.
Xi Jinping made the remarks while delivering a keynote speech via video at the opening ceremony of the Boao Forum for Asia Annual Conference 2021.
Citing a World Bank report, the President says that Belt and Road projects could help lift 7.6 million people from extreme poverty and 32 million people from moderate poverty across the world by 2030.
He says the Belt and Road Initiative is a public road open to all, adding that all interested countries are welcome aboard to take part in the cooperation and share in its benefits.
This year marks the 20th anniversary of the Boao Forum for Asia.
The Chinese President called for building world-class universities to serve the national rejuvenation as he visited Tsinghua University ahead of its 110th anniversary.
Xi Jinping has extended congratulations to Tsinghua's faculty, students and alumni at home and abroad. He also sent greetings to young students across the country.
He says the key to building world-class universities lies in the unceasing efforts to nurture higher-quality talents.
He has called on universities to target the frontiers and key areas of science and technology.
The president has also called for building platforms for international exchanges and cooperation in education and culture as a joint response to global challenges.
Japan has tightened the entry rules for travelers arriving from other countries due to a surge in COVID infections in the country.
To enter Japan, travelers need to get a certificate that proves negative results for COVID-19 from nasal swab testing or saliva samples.
Authorities say passengers without sufficient COVID-19 certificates will no longer be allowed entry.
Japan has asked airlines to deny entry to passengers without negative COVID-19 test results taken within 72 hours of departure.
The country is also asking domestic and foreign airlines to curb the number of passengers coming into the country.
Currently, only Japanese nationals, or resident foreigners and those with special exceptional circumstances, are allowed entry.
Britain has added India to its travel red-list after detecting over a hundred cases of a coronavirus variant first identified in India.
British Health Minister Matt Hancock says the rules will come into effect at 4 a.m. local time on Friday.
"We've made the difficult vital decision to add India to the red-list. This means anyone who is not a UK or Irish resident or a British citizen cannot enter the UK if they've been in India in the previous 10 days."
U.K. and Irish residents, as well as British citizens who arrive from INDIA will have to quarantine for ten days upon arrival.
On Monday, India recorded about 274-thousand new daily infections and more than 1,600 deaths.
The country's coronavirus cases have now topped 15 million, second only to the United States.
The Russian Defense Ministry says a Russian fighter jet has intercepted US and Norwegian patrol planes above the Barents Sea.
The ministry says a MiG-13 jet responded on Monday when radar detected two air targets approaching the Russian border over the Barents.
The Russian crew identified the targets as a US Navy patrol craft and a Norwegian patrol craft.
The Russian Defense Ministry says the Russian fighter jet strictly complied with international rules for the use of airspace during its flight.