The much anticipated Belt and Road Initiative forum is set to take place in Beijing. The event will be held in just over a week, on May 14 and 15.

Questions some may ask could include why China is holding such an event at this time? What issues and topics will be covered, and what should we, along with others from across the globe, expect from this meeting?

He Yafei, the former Vice-Minister of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, will answer these types of questions in the first episode of this series - an exclusive interview with China Daily.