By Marzia De Giuli, Song Jian    Source: Xinhua    Published: 2015-10-2

The "common modernization" essence of the Belt and Road initiative (B&R) was examined here at the 2nd Global Think Tank Summit and 3rd European Think Tank Summit which kicked off here on Thursday.

The B&R initiative, launched by Chinese President Xi Jinping in 2013, focuses on mutual political trust, economic integration and cultural inclusiveness among the countries along the B&R, scholars with the Chinese think tank Charhar Institute explained at the summit.

"We are here to forge cooperation with think tanks from all over the world and share with them the essence of the Belt and Road initiative," Ke Yinbin, Secretary General of the Charhar Institute, told Xinhua in an interview on the sidelines of the summit.

In the past, Ke went on saying, modernization and development were carried out by nation states. But the settlement of global issues and the realization of common interests of humankind demand today that the agent should be an international community, he stressed.

For this reason, "common" and "modernization" are the two keywords of the B&R initiative, Ke told Xinhua.

"By common modernization, we mean the modernization promoted by international communities, composed of several countries, which aim to realize the common interests of humankind at various levels," he said.

With win-win cooperation as the core principle, common modernization seeks sustainable development of human society by putting a strategic focus on factors of population, ecological environment as well as economic and social advancement, he noted.

Ke wished that after the summit many global think tanks will start building new ties with their Chinese counterparts to further explore the essence and improve the global understanding of the B&R initiative.

An English version of the Charhar report "Common Modernization - The essence of the Belt and Road Initiative" was presented at the summit.

The common modernization concept resulted from the theoretical studies on the B&R initiative carried out over the past year by Charhar Institute, a non-governmental think tank, which specializes in diplomacy, foreign policy and international relations.

The three-day summit was organized by the Milan-based ISPI institute of international politics and the Civil Societies Program at the University of Pennsylvania to explore ways through which think tanks can better engage civil society, policymakers and intergovernmental organizations.

Fighting terrorism, enhancing regional and global security, rebalancing global governance, promoting economic growth and development were among the current challenges analyzed at the summit, attended by more than 100 think tanks from 50 countries in the world.