Wei Jianguo: China will steadily expand the scope of signing the Belt and Road cooperation documents

On 18^th June, China Center for International Economic Exchanges(CCIEE) released a series of “Belt and Road” books, which gather together all the latest research results from 2014 to 2017. Wei Jianguo, Vice-Chairman of CCIEE and Deputy Director of the Executive Board, noted that the building of the “Belt and Road” has achieved remarkable results since it was launched 2013. The initiative has become a popular platform for international cooperation and a popular international public good. At present, a large number of cooperative projects have been implemented and great progress has been achieved in the “five connections” (policy coordination, facilities connectivity, unimpeded trade, financial integration, and people-to-people bond). The world economic structure is experiencing profound adjustment, the desire for cooperation between developed economies and developing countries is increasing, the momentum for regional cooperation has been enhanced, and China’s economic development is progressing steadily. All these have provided historic opportunities for bringing high-quality development to the building of “Belt and Road”. Wei Jianguo said that the “Belt and Road” has become a reality and the most popular public product in the world. A large number of countries have become members of the AIIB, the Silk Road Fund has been established, and the total trade of goods between China and the countries along the “Belt and Road” exceeded US$6 trillion from 2013 to 2018. Chinese companies have invested more than US$90 billion in countries along the route, and completed projects worth more than 400 billion US dollars. The building of the “belt and Road” is moving to the stage of high-quality development.

Wei Jianguo said that promoting high-quality development of the “Belt and Road” is fundamental for future development and therefore, it is necessary to build a global partnership and jointly construct soft and hard facilities for the “Belt and Road”. He also pointed out that China’s Internet technology should also go abroad and together with other participants, we should build a cross-regional circulation network. Furthermore, we should connect the infrastructure, Internet, standard, laws and macroeconomic development between countries along the route, so as to bring more countries with great potential to the community of shared interest for development.

In addition, Wei Jianguo suggested that to achieve high-quality development in the building of the “Belt and Road”, we also need to strengthen international capacity cooperation and form a development model of benefit-sharing; improve people’s livelihood and give them a sense of satisfaction; and stress talent training and innovation.

Recently, many international think tanks have published research reports, emphasizing the significance and impact of the “Belt and Road” initiative on regional development and global governance. Xiao Weiming, head of the general team of the Leading Office on the building of the “Belt and Road”, and the head of the opening department of the National Development and Reform Commission, said that China will further consolidate the consensus on cooperation and push countries to abandon the Cold War mentality, zero-sum game and power politics. Moreover, China will expand the scope of signing the cooperation documents regarding the joint building of “Belt and Road”. He pointed out that we will further expand the cooperation to Western Europe, North America, Latin America, and actively carry out third-party market cooperation. We will build an infrastructure which is sustainable, risk-resistant, reasonably priced, and of excellent quality. Apart from strengthening the connection between railways, highways, airports, ports, we also need to promote the connection between different policies, rules and standards.

Xiao Weiming said that China will further deepen the “Belt and Road” economic, trade and investment cooperation, improve investment and trade facilitation, further enhance innovation, consolidate humanities exchanges, and strive to make the “Belt and Road” a road of peace, prosperity, innovation, civilization, and integrity.