China to promote high-quality development of BRI cooperation

Guo Jiping, People’s Daily

The second Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation (BRF) to be kicked off soon in Beijing is attracting worldwide attention. The promotion of high-quality development of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) will be a focus of the forum that is themed on “Belt and Road Cooperation: Shaping a Brighter Shared Future”.

To ensure that the BRI achieves a deeper and more practical level of effects, progresses steadily, and has far-reaching outcomes, each party concerned should further build consensus, align development strategies and set priorities for cooperation, for which the second BRF will serve as the best platform.

The transition toward high-quality development of the BRI will inject a stronger guiding power into the changing situation of the world.

The world is facing a trend of anti-globalization, while the Belt and Road construction is a proof to the skeptics that globalization can proceed among countries in an organized and orderly manner, said Jacques Godfrain, president of Charles de Gaulle Foundation from France.

His point echoes with the international society’s new understanding on the role of the BRI in the modern era.

To achieve high-quality development of the BRI, China will continue upholding the principle of openness, inclusiveness and transparency, listen to constructive suggestions from all parties, and make economic globalization more open, inclusive, balanced and beneficial to all.

Aleksandar Vučić, President of Serbia, remarked that the BRI is promoting world stability by connecting different countries, cultures, and peoples spiritually and materialistically.

The transition toward high-quality development of the BRI will open up new space for Belt and Road construction.

Chinese President Xi Jinping’s trip to Europe this March drew attention from the world. During his visits, China and Italy signed a MoU on the Belt and Road cooperation, and Monaco also expressed its willingness to participate in the Belt and Road cooperation.

China and France signed agreements on the third round of the BRI-related demonstration projects in third-party markets and kicked off a third-party market fund.

During a meeting in Paris, leaders from China, France, Germany and the European Union conducted constructive discussion. German Chancellor Angela Merkel suggested that the EU speed up the bilateral investment negotiations with China and make active exploration in joining the BRI.

French President Emmanuel Macron noted that the EU could align its development strategy with the BRI in an innovative way and jointly promote Eurasian connectivity.

More and more global enterprises will grow their business along the Belt and Road. It reflects their confidence in the BRI’s transition toward high-quality development.

General Electric is expecting to enjoy double-digit growth in revenues along the Belt and Road in coming years, and financial giant Citigroup Inc. is now providing all-round services for the enterprises investing in the Belt and Road countries.

According to a report recently released by Germany Trade & Invest, German companies could, in the short term, participate in the third-party market cooperation in implementing BRI projects as contractors, suppliers and partners, and in the long run, the BRI means a huge opportunity for them as it will create larger markets.

The transition toward high-quality development of the BRI will bring more tangible benefits to the development of the countries. People from the BRI countries are expected to see more livelihood projects, and green projects will also become a focus of the Belt and Road cooperation.

China will continue aligning development strategies with each country, build a batch of key cooperation projects, implement the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and attach more importance on livelihood improvement and environmental protection while deepening cooperation.

This year marks the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People’ Republic of China. To hold the second BRF at such an important time will attract huge attention from the international society.

The Belt and Road construction indicates that China is an open major country that is actively building a new pattern of all-round opening-up.

This spring, the world once again witnessed China’s efficiency of and commitment to reform and opening up.

The second session of the 13th National People’s Congress held this March passed the Foreign Investment Law, and the making of relevant regulations has started.

The country has also implemented  a system of pre-establishment national treatment plus a negative list. It promised that the negative list will only be shortened rather than being expanded.

Moreover, full opening of market access for foreign investors in the banking, securities and insurance industries is being expedited.

As China will only open its door wider to the world, the world will only see a broader space in the Belt and Road cooperation and the alignment with Chinese market.

The Belt and Road construction indicates that China is an open major country that is committed to perfecting the global governance system.

The current global governance system is parochial, fragmented and exclusive, in lack of representativeness, inclusiveness and equity.

The Chinese solutions represented by the BRI aim to uphold the global free trade system and the open world economy, contributing to the building of a more balanced and sustainable governance system.

Dominique de Villepin, former French President, believes that the BRI has pulled together the broken world, and brought new opportunities for development and common stability to all countries.

The Belt and Road construction indicates that China is an open major country that is willing to join hands with each country to build a community of shared future for mankind.

The BRI inherits the traditional spirit of the Chinese nation to build a harmonious world. With an aim to achieve win-win results and common development, it also shares development outcomes with the world.

It is an inheritance of the Silk Road spirit, and also a practical reflection of the aspiration to build a community of shared future for mankind

(Guo Jiping is a well-known pen name used for People’s Daily editorials meant to outline China’s stance and viewpoints on major international issues.)