China's Belt and Road will outgrow its teething woes: Panel

Singapore

CHINA'S flagship Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) may have hit some speed bumps at the outset, but there's no hiding from its ambitions and its progress, observers here have said.

Minister for Trade and Industry Chan Chun Sing and shipping veteran Teo Siong Seng both weighed in on the rising giant at a panel after the Singapore Maritime Lecture on Monday.

The long-term trend is for economic integration between China and the rest of the world, said Mr Chan.

"That is inevitable, no matter how big the Chinese economy might be, and no matter how sophisticated it might be . . . That gives us scope for optimism, to see how we can work…