Source: CGTN    Published: 2018-8-29

When it comes to evaluating the impact of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) over the last five years, one Chinese academic thinks the most important effects cannot be easily measured or even seen.

The BRI has helped countries involved build up their self-confidence, which is more significant than the physical infrastructure projects, according to Liu Zhiqin, a senior fellow at the Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies at the Renmin University of China.

Liu described the achievements of the Belt and Road Initiative over the past five years as "great" and significant, not only in the history of China but also that of the world.

It's difficult to argue against the figures from the country's commerce and foreign ministries. Moreover, the state planner recently revealed that the BRI has managed to get 103 different countries and international organizations on board.

BRI achievements./ CGTN screenshot.

China's trade with Belt and Road countries even reached five trillion US dollars by the end of June. The ministries also said that China had invested 75 billion US dollars in those countries during the same period.

However, Liu said that we should not just focus on these tangible figures. "The most important achievement is not to count how many railways and harbors have been built," Liu noted, adding that "the major achievement for this initiative is that we help many countries and people build up their own confidence."

Chinese President Xi Jinping said on Monday that the BRI has the capacity to create "a community with a shared future for humanity."

Liu said the initiative's main principle is that China wants all countries to prosper.

"We want hundreds of flowers in the garden. The initiative from China is to build up the whole world as a garden with different flowers. That means we benefit all the countries. In this way, we can build up a shared future of human beings. Without prosperity, without sustainability, there is nothing," Liu explained.

Liu Zhiqin is a senior fellow at the Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies at the Renmin University of China.