BEIJING, Oct. 13, 2023 /PRNewswire/ — A news report by China.org.cn on the Belt and Road Initiative:

It’s been ten years since Chinese President Xi Jinping first proposed the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). A few days ago, the white paper “The Belt and Road Initiative: A Key Pillar of the Global Community of Shared Future” was issued. So far, over 150 countries and more than 30 international organizations have participated in the BRI. Why was the BRI able to survive and thrive, and even grow into a public good and cooperation platform welcomed by the international community?

The BRI has identified the common interests of all parties and met their development needs. Here’s a handy example: As early as the 20th century, some Asian countries brought up the idea of building a “Pan-Asia Railway Network.” The launch of the China-Laos Railway marks a critical step for this blueprint to become a reality. The railway has drastically shortened the original two-day journey from Vientiane to Boten, a town on the China–Laos border, to three hours. What’s more, over 2,000 varieties of products have been traded between China and Laos via the railway. Data has shown that in the past decade, China and the BRI partner countries have collaborated in their national development schemes, spurring investment of nearly a trillion US dollars and creating 420,000 jobs.

The BRI represents the global economy’s future direction. In Southern Africa’s Lesotho, there is a popular folk song in praise of China’s Juncao (fungus grass) technology. Lesotho is a country that suffers from severe soil erosion. Back then, when this technology which uses grass instead of wood to cultivate edible fungus was introduced to Lesotho, people acquired a new way to get rid of poverty while protecting the environment. What’s also impressive is the promotion through live-streaming by the Ambassadors of African countries. In recent years, the ever-prevailing digital commerce has made local African products like coffee from Ethiopia and white wine from South Africa more accessible to Chinese households. Poverty reduction, disaster mitigation, green development, and digital technologies have been important cooperation areas for building the BRI, which has helped bring global development into a balanced, coordinated and inclusive new stage.

The BRI has truly stuck to the principles of extensive consultation, joint contribution, and shared benefits. Before the construction of the Mombasa–Nairobi Railway, Chinese construction teams and local animal protection authorities have jointly done research into the local conditions, and designed a path of cutting out a railway route that wild animals can cross, in a bid to mitigate the impact of the railway on animal migration. During construction, more than 300 local companies joined the project with more than 90% employees being non-Chinese. The BRI allows the partner countries to negotiate on an equal stance while playing to their respective strengths, which sought ways to improve the global governance system.

The prosperity of the millennia-old silk routes has demonstrated that by upholding solidarity and mutual trust, equality and mutual benefit, inclusiveness and mutual learning, and win-win cooperation, different countries could share peace and achieve development together. Now, it is clear that the ultimate goal of the BRI is to help build a global community of shared future, and that will no doubt forge more consensus and drive greater progress.

China Mosaic
http://chinamosaic.china.com.cn/index.htm

Why is the BRI welcomed as a global public good?
http://www.china.org.cn/video/2023-10/13/content_116744945.htm

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