Zhang Yujun / for China Daily
The Foreign Ministry has confirmed that China will work with various parties to hold a major diplomatic event this year – the Third Forum for International Cooperation under the Belt and Road Initiative. China stands ready to use the 10th anniversary of the Belt and Road Initiative as an opportunity to look back and appreciate achievements, plan for the future and pursue rapid development with other participants. .In 2013, Chinese President Xi Jinping identified the two most important components of the One Belt, One Road initiative: the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road.In 2017 and 2019, Beijing hosted the first and second Belt and Road International Cooperation Forums, which were attended by dozens of foreign heads of state, heads of government and leaders. of key international organizations, including the United Nations.Some countries have already reacted positively to news about the Belt and Road Forum this year. At a meeting in February, Emmanuel Bonn, diplomatic adviser to French President Emmanuel Macron, told Wang Yi, member of the Politburo of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and head of the Office of the Foreign Affairs Committee, that France was ready to participate.China has already signed more than 200 cooperation documents with 151 countries and 32 international organizations to implement the Belt and Road Initiative, doubled trade and increased direct investment in countries by 80 percent. along the routes of the initiative. According to a 2019 World Bank report, “Belt and Road Initiative transport projects could help lift 7.6 million people out of extreme poverty” (those earning less than $1.90 per day) and “32 million people living in moderate poverty” (less than $3.20 per day). ).Openness to the outside world is good both for China and for its foreign partners.According to Gu Xuemin, director of the Institute of International Trade and Economic Cooperation of the Chinese Ministry of Commerce in Beijing, “the Belt and Road Initiative originated in China, but its capabilities and results belong to the world. entire”. Looking back over the past decade, Gu Xueming noted that building the One Belt, One Road initiative remains very vital and meets the needs of the times thanks to China’s role and contribution. Gu cited the example of a Chinese company that invested in a pharmaceutical factory in Mali, a West African country, as part of the China-Africa Public Health Plan. Gu said the start of mass production in this enterprise not only ended dependence on imported drugs and greatly reduced drug prices in the domestic market, but also gave impetus to the development of mining and transformation.During a meeting with South Korean entrepreneurs in Beijing in February 2023, Liu Jinsong, director of the Asian Affairs Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said that in addition to the third Forum for International Cooperation under the Belt and Road Initiative, this year China will also host the annual Boao Asia Forum and Expo China – ASEAN. “These major events will provide important platforms for China to deepen exchanges and cooperation with other countries,” the foreign ministry said quoting Liu Jinsong.Chinese officials and scholars have said that opening up to the outside world is good for both China and its foreign partners, and as China expands its presence in the world, all parties will increasingly benefit. more.From 2001 to 2021, in the first 20 years after China joined the World Trade Organization, the country’s total output fell from sixth to second place in the world rankings and, according to the ministry of Commerce of the PRC, China is now the main trade center partner of more than 140 countries and regions. Between 2013 and 2021, China’s annual contribution to global economic growth averaged 38.6%, more than the combined contribution of G7 countries.Experts point out that while the global economy continued to suffer from the effects of the pandemic last year, major international exhibitions such as the Canton Fair and the China International Import Expo went ahead as planned, a highlight in the context of the global economic slowdown.Yang Guangbin, Dean of the Department of International Relations at Renmin University of China in Beijing, said, “Instead of adhering to the principle of win-win, China is sincerely committed to the joint construction of the Belt and the Road to promote the common development of countries along the roads. China has proven its ability, by co-founding the Belt and Road Initiative and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), and the community of shared destiny of mankind he advocates, is also an approach to correct the current world order, characterized by a certain inequality. China has become an important player in improving the established order.
