Abstract

In 2013, Chinese President Xi Jinping proposed to jointly build “the Silk Road Economic Belt” and the “21st Century Maritime Silk Road” during his visits to Kazakhstan and Indonesia. In 2018, we are ushering in the fifth year of the construction of the “Belt and Road”. In the past five years, the construction of the “Belt and Road” progressed by leaps and bounds from scratch. China hopes to enhance strategic mutual trust, and dialogue and cooperation among countries, and make new and greater contribution to build a highly interdependent community with shared future for humanity. In the past five years, bilateral and multilateral cooperation broke new ground across the world and was underpinned by public diplomacy, and the construction of the “Belt and Road” has made tremendous achievements in all aspects such as overall layout, policy planning, infrastructure, trade development, financial integration, cultural and educational exchanges, energy resources cooperation, and ecological environment protection, and a solid "four-beam & eight-pillar"-type foundation has been put in place.

The progress and experience over the past five years are self-evident that the construction of the “Belt and Road” is not written in water, or to be done at one kick. On the basis of the achievements of the past five years, we must still be well-armed to promote the deepening of cooperation, and the construction of the “Belt and Road” still needs time to be carried forward.

During the five years of construction, we faced opportunities and challenges, we must adhere to the readiness of a protracted war, overcome the resistance on the road ahead, seize the historical opportunity, continue to push forward the "Three-Step Development Strategy", and connect the "Belt and Road" international cooperation with China's reform and opening-up to achieve a more far-reaching, more open, more inclusive, more sustainable and more healthy development. Below are the highlights of this report:

Summarizing the results of the five-year development - This report presents the latest developments in the policy promotion of the “Belt and Road” in recent years. In the past five years, the “Belt and Road” was translated into practical action from envisagement, and received support from more and more countries, regions, organizations and enterprises.

Facing up to the existing development challenges – This report looks into the gap between existing development results and the top-level framework, sheds light on the challenges the construction of the “Belt and Road” would face in the future, and pertinently proposes the "Three-Step Development Strategy".

Looking forward to the future development outlook - This report expounds that the "Belt and Road" is an international cooperation initiative with profound international and domestic influence, and the promotion of the "Belt and Road" construction requires a long-term layout, and arrangements and planning from a strategic height, and we must stay alarmed and persistent while promoting the "Belt and Road" international cooperation in the long run.