President Xi Jinping is so devoted to his Silk Road project for China to deepen economic ties across Asia that he recently had top Communist officials attend a "study" session on the millenniums-old history of the route.

References to the initiative, launched by Xi in 2013 and known as the "belt and road" plan, have become ubiquitous in China, down to even the in-flight magazines on its aircraft.

As part of the Communist Party leader's vision of moving China beyond a century of humiliation at the hands of foreigners, the plan would strengthen trade and investment ties, especially with Central and Southeast Asian neighbors.