Hits and misses: Highlights of Xi Jinping's second Belt and Road Forum

China's efforts to rehabilitate the Belt and Road's image did have some success, drawing eight more heads of state to this year's conference

Chinese President Xi Jinping hosted some 5,000 delegates from across the globe at the Belt and Road forum in Beijing last week to discuss his signature infrastructure project, which began in 2013 to rebuild ancient trading routes across Eurasia. This year’s gathering eschewed the pageantry of the inaugural summit in 2017, as Beijing tried to address international criticism by toning down its rhetoric and tightening oversight.

Here are three takeaways from the summit, and how Xi fared in the international spotlight.

A Chastened Xi

Compared with his keynote speech two years ago, Xi was more muted on the Belt and Road initiative’s growing