China to build closer Belt and Road partnership with all sides

A worker stacks up goods at a supply chain base of the Belt and Road in Lianyungang, east China's Jiangsu province, April 26, 2021. (People's Daily Online/Geng Yuhe)

China stands ready to work with all parties to build a closer Belt and Road partnership, adhere to the path of unity, cooperation, interconnectivity, and common development, and jointly promote the building of a community with a shared future for humanity, Chinese President Xi Jinping said Wednesday in a written message to the Asia and Pacific High-level Conference on Belt and Road Cooperation.

China has entered a new development stage, acted on a new development concept, and has been fostering a new development paradigm, which provides more opportunities in the market, investment and growth for Belt and Road partners, Xi said.

Belt and Road cooperation pursues development, aims at mutual benefits, and conveys a message of hope.

Xi proposed the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) in 2013 in an attempt to carry on the Silk Road spirit, co-build an open platform for cooperation with all countries and generate new driving forces for the development of all countries.

Over the past eight years, 140 countries and 32 international organizations have joined in Belt and Road cooperation.The BRI has evolved from a concept and vision into real actions and reality, and brought about enormous opportunities and benefits to countries around the world.

When fully implemented, the BRI could increase global trade by 6.2 percent and global real income by 2.9 percent, according to a World Bank report. It has truly become the world’s broadest-based and largest platform for international cooperation.

Faced with the outbreak of the COVID-19 epidemic, China and BRI partners have helped and supported each other to overcome difficulties together, strengthened the building of a “Silk Road for health”, a “green Silk Road” and a “digital Silk Road” and brought forward the Belt and Road development, conveying confidence and vitality to the international community and contributing to the global fight against COVID-19 and economic recovery.

China has held over 100 meetings to share experience on COVID-19 prevention and control with BRI partners, provided a large amount of medical supplies for other countries, as well as donated and exported more than 400 million doses of finished and bulk vaccines to more than 90 countries.

Statistics suggest that last year, China’s trade in goods with countries along the Belt and Road hit a record high of $1.35 trillion.

In the face of the test posed by the pandemic, the BRI has shown strong resilience and vitality, with relevant projects continuing to advance, cooperation yielding many fruits, and trade and investment keeping growth against headwinds, said the Asian Economic Outlook and Integration Progress Annual Report 2021 of the Boao Forum for Asia.

While delivering a keynote speech at the Boao Forum for Asia Annual Conference 2021 in April, Xi proposed building a closer partnership for health cooperation, connectivity, green development, as well as openness and inclusiveness, charting the route to pushing ahead high-quality BRI construction under new circumstances.

Asian and Pacific countries are the pioneers, contributors and examples of Belt and Road international cooperation.

During the conference, 29 countries jointly launched the Initiative for Belt and Road Partnership on COVID-19 Vaccines Cooperation and the Initiative for Belt and Road Partnership on Green Development.

As a mirror of the efforts of China and other parties to build a closer Belt and Road partnership, the two initiatives will effectively support global anti-epidemic cooperation and facilitate low-carbon, resilient and inclusive post-pandemic economic growth.

China will soon complete the building of a moderately prosperous society in all respects, and then embark on a new journey of fully building a modern socialist country under the leadership of the Communist Party of China (CPC), which will celebrate its centenary on July 1 this year.

Standing at a new starting point in history, China will bring about new opportunities for high-quality construction of the Belt and Road. The country will build a closer Belt and Road partnership and make the Belt and Road a public road open to all together with other parties, helping promote the sustainable recovery of world economy and enhance and improve global governance.