The China-led development initiative aims to boost economic growth for all involved and promote a more balanced world order.
Leaders of 28 countries will attend the Belt and Road (B&R) Forum for International Cooperation next month, another major "home diplomacy" event for China after the Hangzhou G20 Summit in 2016.
The upcoming Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation, to be held in May in Beijing, will serve as a favorable platform for countries to build broader consensus, Chinese experts said.
The upcoming event is just one reason behind the frequent deals. Fundamentally speaking, after years of implementation of the B&R initiative, Chinese enterprises have started gaining orders from countries along the routes.
"The forum will build consensus among all participants, reinforcing the international community`s confidence in the Belt and Road Initiative as well as for globalization itself," said Wang Yiwei, a senior researcher at Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies at Renmin University.
An agreement that`s just been signed for a China-Myanmar pipeline project is a step forward in building up major energy corridors that will help ease China`s oil import dependence on the Strait of Malacca, experts said on Tuesday.
The United Kingdom expects to forge concrete cooperation plans with China in the grand blueprint for the Belt and Road Initiative at a forum scheduled in May, the UK ambassador to China said on Friday.
Chen Xiaochen, Director of International Studies Department of Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies at Renmin University of China (RDCY), was interviewed by the People’s Review, a news portal in Nepal. Excerpts of the interview as given below:
The Belt and Road blueprint initiated by China aims to build up mutually beneficial economic and trade cooperation. However, given a myriad of complicated issues involving politics, ethnic minorities and border division, to further advance the development of the strategy needs political and diplomatic effort apart from massive investment from Chinese companies.
The Belt and Road Initiative has become the most popular public goods and platform for international cooperation with the brightest prospects in the world amid rising protectionism and unilateralism, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on the sideline of the recently concluded China`s two sessions.
This May will witness China seeking viable solutions to the problems facing the global economy at the Beijing-based Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation, where over 20 countries` leaders have confirmed their participation. The forum, as Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi said, aims to make sure that the Beijing-led Belt and Road Initiative delivers greater benefits to the world.
China invested about $14.5 billion in countries along Belt and the Road Initiative routes last year — about 8.5 percent of the country`s total overseas investment, an official said.
Improved supervision of the outflow of foreign exchange reserves may affect the country`s guarantee capacity on infrastructure projects under the B&R initiative.
The Belt and Road forum will project China, which supports globalization, as the ballast for the world economy in the face of rising protectionism in the West, analysts said.
The Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation (BRF) will be held in Beijing from May 14 to 15. On the occasion of the 100 day countdown, State Councilor Yang Jiechi, who is in charge of the preparatory work, gave a comprehensive over view.
Chinese President Xi Jinping first proposed building the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road in 2013. Looking back at 2016, we can see the bid to reinvigorate the ancient trade routes has gained some early achievements in promoting connectivity and new opportunities.
China and Ukraine, which are celebrating the 25th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations Wednesday, have vast potential to push forward their strategic cooperation thanks to the opportunities offered by the Silk Road Initiative.
Looking back at 2016, the Belt and Road Initiative has gained fruitful early achievements, promoting connectivity and opening up possibilities and potentials for development along the ancient trade route.
Two thousand years ago, merchants and caravans began moving between east and west along the Silk Road, trading goods, philosophy and technology. Now a modern Silk Road, rekindling trade and achieving common prosperity, is in the making.
China is expected to further promote its Belt and Road initiative next year against the backdrop of rising resentment over globalization and the new Donald Trump administration in the US, as the initiative will be linked with the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development at a summit hosted by China, experts said.