Source: Belt&Silkroad.com Published: 2019-6-3

Editor's notes: Dr. Wang Wen, Executive Dean of Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies (RDCY) and the Deputy Dean and Distinguished Visiting Professor of Silk Road School at Renmin University of China,was interviewed by Belt&Silkroad.com, a Indonesian website initiated by UCLG ASPAC to create a platform for communication and knowledge sharing among the people along the silk roads. The following is the full text of the interview.

Team BRI: Dr. Wang welcome to the program. China just hosted second Belt and Silk Road initiative in the month of April. What are the major take aways from that forum?

Dr. Wang: There are many illustrious outcomes of the summit, but in my opinion if I only have to get one thing for the summit is Silk Road and the biggest outcome of the summit is that China breams the new confidence to the world. China gives a signal to the world that  globalization is especially passionate economic globalization against so-called protectionism. This is a gift that the other countries stimulate to work hard and cooperate hard and push mutual understanding and mutual cooperation. I think it is very important   as a writing power.

Team BRI: In the run up to the second Belt and road forum, there was growing international concern about the adeptness countries falling in to the debt trap. How is china trying to dispel that fear?

Dr. Wang: I think not everything can go away 100 per cent peacefully, it is very normal and generally, when we are pushing one thing is inevitable to face those difficulties. I think that china for same, now days the BRI has nearly been 6 years and we face many of the difficulties. However, generous meeting most of the project of the BRI go very successfully and gives the world the hope. I totally understand that those diverse viewpoint of the world but the problem is that it depends whether you trust the life in China. If you trust china you will choose to cooperate with china and then gather a mutual profit and outcome.  If you suspect china, don’t worry china can wait. For example India, I know Indian government has its own perspectives about the BRI but no problem, I think now a days India- China relation is very good. China can keep patience and wait for India government to change but on India-china cooperation we still see increasing development and it is a good thing. Therefore, my conclusion is that just go ahead and let the time to prove everything.

Team BRI: During your presentation you talked about to periods, one is 2013 when the belt and road initiative started and till now 2019 and then second period you were talking about next three decades 2019 to 2049 where you say that there has to be high quality development period. How do you explain that?

Dr. Wang: I think that in past six years, all of the world know BRI, we finished the first period of the communication, and we let the world to understand and know the BRI initiatives and domestically china finished the policy designing so, next step is that we have to implement and make as you said higher quality development. This process has led to the china domestic development. President xi jinping said we still need high quality development. So, I think it’s matched, it’s a mutual promotion and the china domestic development can promote the high quality BRI development and high quality BRI development can promote in the same way to the china domestic development. Therefore, I think it is a mutual and match process. Why I said about 2049, its one very important china development package that is the 100 anniversary of new China so, we give our domestic package and there is the same package of the BRI. I hope in 2049 both BRI and china domestic development can get very good achievement.

Team BRI: What are the challenges you would say that is confronting belt and road initiative at this moment? How do you define them?

Dr. Wang: As I said during my presentation, the biggest challenges for the BRI is that china’s international experience and knowledge. China is a neo modernization countries, we have no enough international communication experience as whereas knowledge. Therefore, I think that we are at a process that is similar to the internationalisation of Chinese knowledge and Chinese experience. So we what we are doing is by learning and it is a one big challenge.

Team BRI: You also talked about financial and domestic challenges as well, where the stable political economic and social secure environment is needed

Dr. Wang: The financial challenges was the second challenge I pointed out because the BRI need money, BRI need investment, BRI need those international fiscal international business cooperation but china’s international knowledge is very less. Therefore, we push international financial fiscal business cooperation, which will bring new challenges. The international financial fiscal business cooperation is much harder than domestic cooperation, domestic policy promotion. Therefore, that is why china government and ordinary Chinese people should know international rules and should know how to implement it. Sad point is that the domestic development. I think BRI future prospect depends on china domestic condition if in case china collapses no one will trust BRI. Domestic development is a basis of BRI.

Team BRI: You also described it and we have been listening to Chinese leadership and other members of the think time group that BRI is basically a win-win cooperation for the world. What do you mean by win-win cooperation?

Dr. Wang: I think the win-win cooperation is compared for the world  . In past of 500 years those are western countries when they live up to,  they did not bring the win-win outcome for the world. As I mentioned in past 70 year and during World War II one hundred allied countries but most of these countries now are still very poor. We need to ask. Why? The reason was that because leadership of western countries did not bring win-win outcome to the world. But now in  21st  century  because of allies of china and allies of India  to the world we bring win-win outcome to the world. Of course, the win-win outcome is not equal to the 50 percent win-win game. Sometimes china can win 90 per cent the outcome ND rest can win 10 percent. Sometimes we can win 10 percent and the outcome can win 90 percent. Whatever the outcome is win-win so, it’s not easier. This is East civilization including Indian civilization and chinese civilization and that is very important.

Team BRI: You talked about BRI being long-term endeavor, so there are factors you have counted that you have to be patient and persistent. Cultivate new takers setting with the competitive rules be familiar with the related countries. How china as a country will incorporate all these things?

Dr. Wang: Why I said that we should always keep patience and look forward  topermanent policy that is international development is not very easy, just look at western experience. I had a need that in past 70 years seeing the World War II, there are lot of people in western society sincerely wanting to push the international development but finally they failed especially in 2008. The international financial crisis and then then the edge gave china and India new opportunity, new chance to lead the neo globalization. Both India and china we are very long civilisation we are the top most populated countries  both the country should know that it’s not very easy it’s very hard. Therefore, the problem is that how to identify the difficulties, maybe we need more time than the western countries to witness the progress. We should not get scared of these difficulties. We just do it by learning so I think we will get more achievement and it is my confidence.

Team BRI: How do you look and the perspective of BRI in near future and the long distance.

Dr. Wang: I think that near future for BRI is to implement those projects; those MOU we signed should be implemented as soon as possible. First thing is that Implementation is very important and secondly, if middle and long term, I hope that prosperity and peace is very important. In the past, those rising countries in terms of international relation theory when one country rise up  then they are inevitable  to bring war , to bring disaster, blood issues.  Of course even we admit in 1960s, 1970s we had war but since 1978 in the past of 40 years we have no enemies, we have no involvement in the war so,  peace and stability is the basement of the development. BRI represents the very hard decision very hard design of china government and Chinese that we want to keep the stability, peace, development cooperation and want to bring to the world the more peace and more prosperity. Our vision is peace but not war vision is prosperity not poverty.

Team BRI: Thank you very much