China is using soft power through the form of foreign aid to help the world, despite criticism from the West that its approach lacks transparency.

There is no better proof of this than the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road initiatives, the latest strategies under Beijing's foreign aid policy.

China is using its soft power in the form of foreign aid to change the world despite criticism from Western countries that its approach lacks transparency.

The Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road (Belt and Road) initiatives are the latest strategies in Beijing's foreign aid policy. Around 76 percent of the loans Beijing granted between January 2014 and March 2015 were to countries included in the trade and infrastructure projects aimed at linking China and Europe.

Britain’s foreign aid budget must be used to “discourage mass migration”, the Defence Secretary has said. Michael Fallon said that foreign aid spending “should be used” to help prevent conflicts breaking out in African countries in order to prevent refugees fleeing to Europe. He said that it would stop the UK military having to “fish people out of the Mediterranean” when they try to escape from their home countries.

In a recent report, Development Initiatives said many social programs are severely under-funded in developing countries. Across all least developed countries, only 20% of costs are financed.

When the community of nations gathers in July to discuss the issue of development financing, Canada and other wealthy nations will be asked to substantially increase their foreign assistance budgets.

North Korea appears to be clamping down on international aid groups in the country. On Wednesday, the country’s propaganda news service announced the deportation of Sandra Suh, a U.S. citizen, accusing her of carrying out acts of propaganda against the state. It was the second deportation of an aid worker in less than two months.

An Australian government initiative branded as the InnovationXchange will broker partnerships between business, civil society, philanthropy, and academia in order to tackle problems in developing countries in the Australian region. The InnovationXchange is said to draw on the model for developing innovation in Silicon Valley technology startups. It will be licensed to embrace more financial risk than a normal government bureaucracy in trying new solutions.

It was a state visit that for many sparked memories of another nearly 30 years ago, when William’s parents Charles and Diana, then Prince and Princess of Wales, came to the country for five days of pomp and pressing the flesh in 1986.