Why is the Belt and Road Initiative able to keep gaining popularity?
By People’s
Daily Online
In 1662, at the
wedding of Portuguese Princess Catherine of Braganza and Charles II, King of
England, Scotland, and Ireland, two items in the dowries, exquisite porcelain
and mellow tea from China, caused a sensation in the whole of Europe. Porcelain
and tea entered the Portuguese upper class through bilateral trade between
China and Portugal.
In 2018,
Portugal and China signed an agreement on cooperation under the framework of
the Belt and Road Initiative, making Portugal the first country in Western
Europe to participate in the initiative.
Such stories
continue to emerge. Since Chinese President Xi Jinping proposed the initiative
in 2013, China’s “circle of friends” has continued to expand. By the end of
October 2019, China had concluded cooperation agreements with 137 countries and
30 international organizations.
As a Chinese
saying goes, “To know whether a policy is good or not, you should see if it makes
people frown or smile.”
In Uzbekistan,
Chinese personnel worked closely with locals, building a 19-kilometer tunnel in
just 900 days. The tunnel, which is the longest in Central Asia allows Uzbeks
living in remote areas to travel through mountains and ranges in 900 seconds or
just 15 minutes.
Thanks to the
Belt and Road Initiative, fishermen who catch crayfish along the banks of the
Nile in Egypt can now see their crayfish on Chinese people’s dining tables. The
high demand from China also puts more money in their pockets. For them, the
initiative is a path to wealth.
In Serbia,
Chinese companies helped revive a near-bankrupt steel plant, securing jobs and
stable incomes for 5,000 workers.
Joint
construction with participating countries allows Belt and Road countries to
align their development strategies and match their strengths, thus releasing
the development potential of these countries and bringing tangible benefits to
their peoples.
Our world today
is a “disordered world.” Against the backdrop of profound changes, development
is the master key to solving all problems.
The reason why
the BRI has attracted so many participants is that it conforms to the desire of
countries, especially developing ones, to seek development.
Belt and Road
construction is successful because it focuses on economic development rather
than promoting political output; promotes openness and cooperation rather than
protectionism; aims to achieve mutual benefits and win-win results rather than
to play zero-sum games; adheres to international rules rather than separate
rules; and offers the world a path to opportunities and prosperity.
The Belt and
Road is China’s solution for win-win cooperation.
Source: People’s
Daily Online

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