Many participants at the forum in Jordan agreed with Li's comments.

"If you keep your interest first, you will not find China an unfair partner," said Shandana Gulzar Khan, Pakistan's parliamentary secretary for commerce. "But it depends on how well you do your homework."

In Pakistan, a major BRI participating country, the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor has created tens of thousands of jobs and revived the economy of an entire region, Khan noted.

Speaking at the session, He Wenping, a research fellow of the Institute of West-Asian and African Studies, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, echoed Li's remarks.

"The biggest worry on the 'debt-trap diplomacy' should come from China's side, not from outside. It is tax payers' money," the Chinese professor said.

"China is not waving the 'China First' flag," she said.

The upcoming Belt and Road forum to be held in Beijing later this month could be an opportunity to kickstart a "second phase" of the initiative, she added. 

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