Photo taken shows the logo of the two-day Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation opened in Beijing on May 14, 2017. Beijing Yanqi Lake International Convention & Exhibition Center, the main venue of the forum, as well as the service personnel of the meetings have been ready for the event. (Photo by Wang Haonan from People’s Daily)

The ongoing Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation will make future-oriented plans for cooperation and push forward the construction of the routes on a new starting point, said a commentary published by People’s Daily on Sunday, the same day the two-day event opened in Beijing.

The following is an abstract translation of the article:

A total of 29 heads of state and governments, over 70 leaders of international organizations, and 1,500-plus representatives from worldwide attended the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation being held in Beijing.

As the highest-level Belt and Roadinternational meeting since the initiative was firstly put forward, the historical event will definitelyusher countries around the world into a newchapter to build it together.

Better than expected, progress and achievements have been scored by the efforts to construct Belt and Road. So far, more than 100 countries and international organizations have responded to the initiative, with 40 of them signing agreements of cooperation with China.

These accomplishments obtained in such a short period of time indeed indicated the initiative’s conformity with the trend of international peaceful development and the demand of Eurasian countries for cooperation and development.

The Belt and Road initiative is for China, but more importantly, it is for the world.

Now the world economy is still in a gloom, with rising tide of protectionism and anti-globalization. The conflicts between openness and conservatism, reform and fogyism，economic integration and fragmentation have emerged as well.

Amid such background, the Belt and Road developmentprovides a new engine to boost trade growth and accelerate the reform of global economic governance.

Fruitful harvests have been reaped from the endeavor to build the routes. The “Belt and Road” countries, for instance, have aligned their development strategies and construction plans, while investment and financing platforms such as Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank and Silk Road Fund have been set up.

The infrastructure projects like Jakarta-Bandunghigh speed rail and Gwadar Port are underway as well.

These have not only accelerated China’s process to open up in an all-round way, but also brought development opportunities and tangible benefits for the countries and regions along the routes. The contribution of all involved countries was rewarded.

Such common actions are pushing the world toward an innovative, invigorated, interconnected and inclusive economy.

Chinese President Xi Jinpingonce pointed out that “the world will be a better place only when everyone is better off”.

To put Xi’s words into practice, Chinese enterprises have established 56 economic cooperation zones in Belt and Road countries during the last 3 years, creating nearly $1.1 billiontax revenue and 180,000 jobs. In addition, China’s direct investment in these countries reached $14.5 billion in merely 2016.

China is implementing the initiative and devoting to economic globalizationwith maximum sincerity and firm actions.

Xi stressed that the Silk Road is a common treasure for people all over the world. The continuous promotion of the initiative will not only effectively deepen the cooperation between China and the Belt and Road countries, but also deliver them and the world at large the conception to build a community of shared interests and future for the mankind.

The achievements in the past 3 years have made the Belt and Road initiative important international public product goods. The forum will determine the key cooperation areas for the next phase through consultation, make future-oriented plans for cooperation, and promote the construction of the Belt and Road on a new starting point, in a bid to further build consensus, set direction and plan visions.

The forum is not about empty talks. It will make itself into a highly-efficient global cooperation platform to encourage connectivity.

Closer alignment, effective implementation and other concrete actions will be taken to convert consensus into development engines and welfare for the public, so that the Belt and Road initiative will be strong enough to carry the hope and dream of the people from en-route countries.