Chinese President Xi Jinping said Sunday the vision of the Belt and Road Initiative is becoming a reality and bearing rich fruit four years after it was proposed. Belt and Road countries have seen increased connectivity in policies, infrastructure, trade and finance, as well as strengthened people-to-people bonds, Xi said in a keynote speech delivered at the opening ceremony of the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Sunday called on the international community to seize the opportunities presented by the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative and strive for common development. Speaking at the opening ceremony of the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation held in Beijing, Guterres praised the ambitious cross-continental initiative as being "rooted in a shared vision for broad development.
Chinese Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli calls for more efforts to promote facility connectivity, by further improving the network of infrastructure, with equal importance attached to both the "hard connectivity" of transportation systems on the ground, at the sea, in the air and on the internet and also the "soft connectivity" of policies, regulations and standards. Priority should be given to the projects of railway, road, air transportation, shipping, telecommunication, power grid, oil and gas pipelines and energy internet in the construction of a modern infrastructure system.
Chinese Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli says policy coordination, facility connectivity, unimpeded trade, financial integration and people-to-people bonds are the key to implementing the Belt and Road Initiative which could lead the efforts to seek common ground, lift cooperation level and create new cooperation platforms and as well as benefiting the countries involved and their peoples. Zhang presents a five-point proposal.