China's COSCO to invest in Kazakhstan border project as part of Silk Road drive

A container ship of China Ocean Shipping Company (COSCO) crosses the Gulf of Suez towards the Red Sea before entering the Suez Canal, in El Ain El Sokhna in Suez, east of Cairo, Egypt April 24, 2017. REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh

BEIJING (Reuters) - China's COSCO Shipping <601919.SS> plans to invest in a special economic zone on Kazakhstan's border with China as it looks to increase investment in countries involved in the new Silk Road, the company's chairman said on Sunday.

Officially named the Belt and Road initiative, the Silk Road initiative unveiled in 2013 has been touted by China as a way to boost global development through expanded links between Asia, Africa, Europe and beyond, underpinned by billions of dollars in infrastructure investment.