2500
years ago, Confucius depicted in the Book of Rites his vision of a Great
Commonwealth, proclaiming that ‘when the Great Way prevails, all people under
heaven are dedicated to the public well-being’.
Around
five centuries later, people on the land of Eurasia started to explore and open
up several routes of trade and cultural exchanges that linked the major
civilizations of Asia, Europe and Africa, and called by later generations the
Silk Road. Throughout history, the Silk Road nurtured and featured the spirit
of peace and cooperation, openness and inclusiveness, mutual learning and
mutual benefit.
In
the globalized world today, interdependence deepens, interests converge and
connectivity expands, nations are developing into a community of shared
interests, shared responsibilities and shared destiny. Yet imbalance in
development remains prominent and at the root of many problems our world faces.
Since
President Xi Jinping of the People’s Republic of China put forward in 2013 the
Initiative of Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st-Century Maritime Silk Road,
it has met with great enthusiasm and support from more than 100 countries and
international organizations. The vision of the Belt and Road Initiative is
becoming a reality and bearing rich fruit.
It
is highlighted by the recently concluded The Belt and Road Initiative Forum for
International Cooperation at Beijing, which witnessed the attendance and
participation of more than 1500 delegates from over 130 countries, including 29
heads of state and government leaders and more than 70 international
organizations.
Over
270 concrete results were reached at the Forum in five key areas of policy,
infrastructure, trade, financial and people-to-people connectivity. President
Xi announced that China would scale up financing support for the Initiative,
including expanding the Silk Road Fund by 100 billion yuan (about 14.5 billion
US dollars) and encourage financial institutions to conduct overseas fund
business in RMB with an estimated amount of about 300 billion yuan (about 43.5
billion US dollars). And another 380 billion yuan (55 billion US dollars) in loans
from two policy banks----China Development Bank and the Export-Import Bank of
China will be provided to support Belt and Road cooperation on infrastructure,
industrial capacity and financing and 60 billion yuan (8.6 billion US dollars)
in aid will be provided by China to developing countries and international
bodies participating in the Belt and Road Initiative to launch more projects to
improve people’s well-being. China will also make an additional contribution of
one billion US dollars to the Assistance Fund for South-South Cooperation.
President
Xi called for building the Belt and Road into one for peace, prosperity,
openness, innovation and connecting different civilizations. He stressed the
pursuit of the Belt and Road Initiative was not meant to reinvent the wheel,
rather, it aimed to complement the development strategies of countries involved
by leveraging their comparative strengths.
Deep-rooted
in history, the Belt and Road Initiative revitalizes the time-honored Silk Road
Spirit and demonstrates China’s resolve to further its all-round opening up,
promote regional cooperation and deepen its integration with the world and make
sure that economic globalization is open, inclusive, balanced and beneficial to
all.
The
Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st-Century Maritime Silk Road run through
Asia, Europe and Africa by land and sea, connecting the dynamic East Asia on
one end, the developed Europe on the other and the vast area with huge
development potential in between. The Initiative reflects the great potential
and space for cooperation among the countries along the routes and their common
aspiration for development.
China’s
vision is to realize common development through win-win cooperation. The
Initiative comes from the ancient Silk Road but is not limited to it. It is in
fact open to all other countries. All countries, from either Asia, Europe,
Africa or the Americas, can be international cooperation partners of the
Initiative. It’s never meant to be China’s solo, but rather a big circle of friends,
and an orchestral performance by all partners around the world.
Since
inception, the Belt and Road Initiative has made significant progress in
achieving its five major goals, i.e. policy coordination, facilities
connectivity, unimpeded trade, financial integration and people-to-people
bonds. Accordingly, early harvests are reaped in the eight priority areas for
cooperation: infrastructure connectivity, industrial investment, resource
development, economic and trade cooperation, financial cooperation, cultural
exchanges, ecological protection and maritime cooperation.
In
pursuing the Initiative, China adheres to three key principles: extensive
consultation, joint action and shared benefits. China carries out extensive
consultation with others on an equal footing, respects each and every
independent choice of others, ensures transparency and openness, and aligns the
Initiative with the development strategies of others, and creates synergy with
the existing regional cooperation mechanisms. It is a pluralistic and open
process of cooperation which can be highly flexible, and does not seek
conformity.
Globalization
means interconnection and interdependence. The Belt and Road Initiative
reflects openness in China’s vision and action. China’s own historical experience
tells strongly how different cultures and faiths could interact and thrive
together without doing each other harm. China’s recent story of reform and
opening up and growing into the largest trading partner of over 120 countries
in just a couple of decades, shows forcefully how closely connected and
intertwined China has been with the rest of the world and that its hard found
path of peaceful development does work. China works in earnest in economic,
cultural and all other fields to make sure that cooperation is truly win-win.
The
Belt and Road Initiative is a public good China provides for the world. By
communication and coordination among other global, regional and national
frameworks and initiatives for promoting cooperation in connectivity and sustainable
development, such as the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, Addis Ababa
Action Agenda, Agenda 2063 of the African Union, China-African cooperation
presages an even more vibrant and broad prospect.
Lao
Zi, an ancient Chinese Taoist philosopher who probably lived even before
Confucius’ time, once said, ‘a sage does not store up, by helping others as
best as he can, he is helped even more; by giving others as much as he can, he
becomes richer and richer still’. I believe that with conviction, commitment
and cooperation and by working together, we can make real positive difference
for all of us.
By
H.E. ZHANG Jiming, Ambassador of the People’s Republic of China to the Republic
of The Gambia