Third, we have made our own contribution to common development in the world. As the world's second largest economy, China is fully aware of its responsibility and has done its utmost to promote development and prosperity of the world.8 By maintaining economic stability at home, we have helped global economy, Asian economy, in particular, to effectively resist the downward pressure. As the world's fastest growing economy, China has made itself an opportunity to world development. The recent Central Economic Work Conference sent out a message that the Chinese economy has come to a new normal, reaffirming China's direction for a new round of high-quality opening-up. On the home front, we will pursue a path of sustainable development, maintaining a healthy and steady growth of a medium-high speed, upgrading our economic structure toward the medium-high end and bringing about sustained benefits to our people. On the external front, we will deepen our opening strategy of mutual benefit, achieving the transformation from being the world's workshop of consumer items to being a key supply base of manufacturing equipment and realizing the common prosperity of China and the rest of the world.
By promoting the development of the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, we have injected a strong impetus to the common development in Eurasia. The economic belt and the maritime Silk Road are projects designed to boost win-win cooperation between China on the one hand and Eurasian countries on the other in the spirit of mutual learning and harmonious coexistence reminiscent of the ancient Silk Road and serve as an overarching architecture for China's external cooperation endeavor in the new era.
Internally, this initiative dovetails with China's development strategy of developing our central and western regions while addressing regional imbalances and fits well with our "go global" strategy aimed at building all-directional cooperation with the outside world.
Internationally, this initiative aims to secure common development and shared prosperity in all countries along the routes, as it upholds the vision for a community of shared destiny and highlights a win-win approach featuring consultation, joint development and sharing. The initiative is bound to bring new life and vigor to the ancient land of Eurasia and give this vast continent two strong wings on its journey toward prosperity.
In the past year since the initiative was raised, over 50 countries along the routes have responded positively and signed on, ready to align their respective development schemes with it. Substantive steps have been made in the establishment of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, which renders strong support to the initiative. The Silk Road Fund is in place. Infrastructure connectivity cooperation such as China-Mongolia and China-Thailand railway projects is making progress. China-ROK and China-Australia FTA negotiations have yielded fruitful results. As time goes by, the great significance and far-reaching impact of the initiative will become more keenly felt.
By promoting the Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific (FTAAP), we have worked relentlessly to ensure a right direction for regional cooperation in the Asia-Pacific. Using the opportunity presented by hosting APEC meetings, we set in motion the FTAAP process and approved the relevant roadmap, transcending and integrating the increasingly fragmented bilateral and multilateral FTAs in the region and creating a significant milestone in the APEC process, which aroused strong resonance and support from all parties. The effort goes a long way toward ensuring mutual inclusiveness and reinforcement of the existing cooperation arrangements in the region.
By taking part in international economic and financial governance, we have played a positive role in revamping the relevant international systems. We moved the G20 Summit in Brisbane to include structural reform, as China called for, in its Leaders' Communique as an important element under macroeconomic policy coordination. We worked with the United States and Australia in drafting the G20 Principles on Energy Collaboration and urging its endorsement by the Summit. In such a way, we took an active part in agenda-setting and rule-making in the multilateral arena. At the BRICS Summit in Fortaleza, we pushed for the launch of preparations for a New Development Bank and a Contingent Reserve Arrangement, thus making a new contribution to improving global financial governance. We actively participated in the United Nations Climate Summit. The Joint Announcement on Climate Change by China and the United States, spelling out their respective post-2020 actions on climate change, set an illustrious example for the international community.
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