The Belt and Road Initiative: Injecting Positive Energy into the World Economy

By+REN+HONGBIN

SINCE the Belt and Road Initiative was pro- posed， construction across the area has steadily progressed. China has signed memoranda of cooperation with certain nations to jointly build the Belt and Road， and has also signed memoranda with some neighboring countries to promote regional and frontier cooperation. A raft of major cooperative projects has driven development in such areas as infrastructure connectivity， industrial investment， resource development， economic and trade cooperation， financial cooperation， cultural exchanges， ecological conservation， and maritime cooperation. That more countries and enterprises will engage in the construction of the Belt and Road in order to craft new means of mutually-beneficial cooperation for the world economy is thus now becoming a reasonable belief.

Cooperation， Mutual Benefit and Win-Win Results

On September 7， 2013， in a speech delivered at Nazarbayev University in Kazakhstan， Chinese President Xi Jinping expounded the strategic Belt and Road Initiative for the first time. He called for policy consultation， road connections， unimpeded trade， monetary circulation， and understanding between peoples. In his October 3， 2013 speech to the Peoples Representative Council of Indonesia， President Xi remarked that China is committed to greater connectivity with ASEAN countries and is willing to develop a maritime partnership with them to jointly build the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road. This initia-tive honors the principles of consultation， joint efforts and benefits for all. With the goal of promoting economic cooperation and prosperity in countries straddling the Belt and Road， the initiative is committed to promoting connectivity in Eurasia and its adjacent seaways， and establishing and enhancing partnerships among countries in the area， so as to realize diversified， independent， balanced and sustainable development.

According to preliminary estimates， there are over 60 countries abutting the Belt and Road， with an aggregate population of 4.4 billion； this accounts for 63 percent of the worlds total. Geographically， the Belt （short for the Silk Road Economic Belt） focuses on bringing China， Central Asia， Russia and Europe together， and linking China with the Persian Gulf and the Mediterranean Sea through Central and Western Asia， and linking China with Southeast Asia， South Asia and the Indian Ocean. The 21st Century Maritime Silk Road is projected to go from the Chinese coast to Europe via the South China Sea and the Indian Ocean along one route， and from Chinas coast through the South China Sea to the South Pacific on the other. The Belt and Road will become the worlds major economic corridor， and stretch across the longest distances. Revitalization of the worlds economy will be less difficult if nations along the Belt and Road strengthen their cooperation and enhance their connectivity.endprint