New start for BRI contributing to world's common development and prosperity

Pedestrians pass feature signs of the third Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation, Oct 11, 2023. [Photo by Zhu Xingxin/China Daily]

This is an editorial from China Daily.

The message of the Belt and Road Initiative, since it was launched 10 years ago, has always been about improving infrastructure connectivity and achieving common development. The third Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation, being held in Beijing on Tuesday and Wednesday, carries the same message of pursuing common development.

Held under the theme "High-quality Belt and Road Cooperation: Together for Common Development and Prosperity", the forum, apart from the opening ceremony, consists of three high-level meetings for in-depth discussions on connectivity, green development and the digital economy, and six thematic forums — on trade connectivity, people-to-people relationship, exchanges among think tanks, green Silk Road, subnational cooperation and maritime cooperation. A CEO conference, too, will be held where entrepreneurs can have face-to-face discussions.

Aside from delivering the keynote speech at the opening ceremony, President Xi Jinping, along with the representatives of more than 140 countries and over 30 international organizations, will attend a series of bilateral events with some of the foreign delegates to chart a new blueprint for the initiative's further development.

With globalization facing headwinds, the international community expects China to find, through the Belt and Road Initiative, ways to promote global economic growth, not least because the theme of the forum is "common development and prosperity".

In today's uncertain and unstable world, there is an urgent need for countries to settle their differences through talks and promote development through cooperation. Over the past decade, thanks to the concerted efforts of all parties, the Belt and Road Initiative has transformed from a vision to reality, driving global growth in the process. The initiative has mobilized $1 trillion in investments and undertaken, solely or jointly, more than 3,000 cooperation projects, created valuable development opportunities for all Belt and Road countries, and offered viable solutions to global governance problems.

The initiative follows a global governance philosophy of extensive consultation and joint contribution for shared benefits. It prefers consultation over confrontation, breaking over building barriers, and integration over decoupling, while seeking to make the global governance system equitable and fairer. It is therefore fair to say that the Belt and Road Initiative is an open and inclusive platform for cooperation and a global public good.

With the forum expected to produce substantial outcomes, the total number of deliverables is likely to exceed those of the first and second forums.

More important, China will use the forum to take stock of the valuable experience of Belt and Road cooperation over the past decade, draw a new blueprint for promoting high-quality cooperation in the future, and make new contributions to building a community with a shared future for mankind.

And that is what development is all about.