Xi's message on B&R cooperation shows China's will to build closer partnership, say experts

Workers from China Railway No.2 Engineering Group (CREC-2) screw the welded seamless rails of the China-Laos railway in the northern suburb of Vientiane, Laos, on June 18, 2020. (Photo by Kaikeo Saiyasane/Xinhua)

BEIJING, June 24 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping's written message to the Asia and Pacific High-level Conference on Belt and Road Cooperation on Wednesday has showed China's willingness to jointly build a closer Belt and Road partnership with the rest of the world, experts and scholars in the region have said.

Meanwhile, it has also demonstrated that China will continue to follow the path of unity, cooperation, interconnectivity and common development, and make more contributions to global cooperation and growth, they noted.

A Chinese expert conducts on-site teaching for Pakistani trainees about plant power protection in Hub, port city of Balochistan province, Pakistan, on May 22, 2019. (Xinhua/Liu Zhenyu)

When President Xi said China stands ready to work with all parties to build a closer Belt and Road partnership, it means China is completely open for cooperation and partnership under a win-win formula, said Khalid Rahman, director general of the Institute of Policy Studies in Islamabad.

There is a clear roadmap and work plan in the Belt and Road construction, which has helped create a vast number of new jobs and realize inter-connectivities through infrastructure construction and mega investment projects, he added.

Tursunali Kuziev, a professor at Uzbek University of Journalism and Mass Communications, noted that as the Chinese president said in his written message, the joint building of the Belt and Road is aimed at carrying forward the spirit of the Silk Road, working together to build an open platform of cooperation, and providing new impetus for cooperation and development among countries.

Workers clean the Lotus Tower in Colombo, capital of Sri Lanka, on April 10, 2019. (Xinhua/Guo Lei)

The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) has opened a new era of interconnection and win-win cooperation between Central Asian countries and China, said Kuziev, adding that despite the world was hit by COVID-19, their cooperation has seen steady progress in various fields and the joint development of the BRI has continued to move forward.

Chen Gang, assistant director of the East Asian Institute of the National University of Singapore, said this high-level meeting demonstrated that countries along the Belt and Road still support and attach importance to the BRI amid the pandemic.

Relevant parties can strengthen cooperation in such fields as renewable energy, science and technology, digital economy, and public health, Chen suggested.

Chinese workers maintain equipment at the lower Stung Russei Chrum hydropower station in Cambodia's southwestern Koh Kong province on March 24, 2020. (China Huadian Lower Stung Russei Chrum Hydroelectric Project (Cambodia) Company Limited/Handout via Xinhua)

Neak Chandarith, director of the Cambodia 21st Century Maritime Silk Road Research Center, agreed with President Xi's ideas on jointly building a community with a shared future for mankind, saying that the conference is a timely opportunity and the BRI is of great significance for strengthening inclusive multilateralism and enhancing their partnership in an endeavor to jointly address transnational public health issues.