On the evening of April 1, 2015, while meeting the press with visiting Foreign Minister L. Purevsuren of Mongolia, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi announced that China, Mongolia and Russia have reached consensus on connecting their own development strategies and launching the establishment of China-Mongolia-Russia Economic Corridor.

The China-Mongolia-Russia Economic Corridor is an organic part of China's Belt and Road Initiative, according to Vision and Actions on Jointly Building Silk Road Economic Belt and 21st-Century Maritime Silk Road, issued by the the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), China's top economic planner, and the ministries of foreign affairs and commerce.

Mongolia and Russia are proactively involved in endeavors such as the Belt and Silk Road Initiative and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB). Mongolia showed its willingness to join the AIIB as a founding member and signed the Memorandum of Understanding on Establishing the AIIB on Oct. 24, 2014. Russia has applied to join the AIIB and will be approved as a prospective founding member on April14, 2015 if everything goes smoothly.

The focus of the Belt and Silk Road Initiatives is different from that of the AIIB. The Belt and Silk Road Initiatives will promote common development and intensify the connections among countries in Asia, Europe and Africa, to achieve win-win cooperation. The AIIB will encourage the building of infrastructure, complement the existing multilateral financial institutions, and help govern the global economy in a more comprehensive and efficient way.

The Belt and Silk Road Initiatives and the AIIB complement each other. The Belt and Silk Road Initiatives can be financed and supported by the AIIB. The building of interconnectivity and infrastructure, one of the priorities of the Belt and Silk Road Initiatives, will create opportunities for the development of the AIIB.

There is not shortage of supporters of the Belt and Silk Road Initiatives and the AIIB. Since Chinese leaders introduced the Belt and Silk Road Initiatives, China has communicated with and won positive responses from dozens of countries. China, Russia, the EU, Mongolia and a number of other countries have released joint statements to confirm the consensus on supporting the Belt and Silk Road Initiatives, co-promoting the Belt and Silk Road Initiatives, or connecting respective development strategies. China, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, Qatar and Kuwait have signed cooperation initiatives related to the construction of the Belt and Silk Road Initiatives. The AIIB will see more than 50 founding members after these multilateral procedures.

There will be more supporters of the Belt and Silk Road Initiatives and the AIIB in the future as China delivers on its commitments to promote the common development of all countries around the world, and open, win-win interaction with other countries.