THE Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) was launched by China, but it belongs to the world and benefits the whole of humanity, said a white paper released by China’s State Council Information Office yesterday. The white paper, titled “The Belt and Road Initiative: A Key Pillar of the Global Community of Shared Future,” said China proposed the BRI in response to a changing global situation and the expectations of the international community, and with the future and overall interests of humanity in mind. Drawing wisdom and strength from the ancient silk routes and the Silk Road spirit, the BRI targets development not only for China but for the world, and eyes to create a better world, it said. Facilitating trade and investment is a major task in building the Belt and Road, said the white paper. The participating countries have worked hard to promote trade and investment liberalization and facilitation, remove investment and trade barriers, and improve the business environment within the region and in all related countries. Efforts have been made to build free trade zones, broaden trading areas, improve trade structure, expand areas of mutual investment and industrial cooperation, establish a more balanced, equal and sustainable trading system, and develop mutually beneficial economic and trade relations, to make the “pie” of cooperation bigger. It also pointed out that the BRI has boosted China’s development and benefited the rest of the world, bringing tangible benefits to participating countries. A large number of infrastructure projects have been built, with significant progress for participating countries in the construction of railways, highways, pipelines, shipping, energy, communications and other basic public service facilities, according to the white paper. It said that participating countries will promote policy coordination and infrastructure connectivity through the cooperation. “We have continued to facilitate policy coordination, infrastructure connectivity, unimpeded trade, financial integration, and closer people-to-people ties, by orienting towards ‘hard connectivity’ in infrastructure, bolstering ‘soft connectivity’ through harmonized rules and standards, and strengthening people-to-people bonds,” said the white paper. It stated that the initiative is adding vitality to economic globalization. “By expanding economic globalization and distributing its benefits fairly, the BRI aims to promote global development that is balanced, coordinated, inclusive and shared by all, and that brings win-win cooperation and common prosperity,” the white paper said. People-to-people ties are the social foundations of BRI cooperation, said the document. The participating countries have passed on and carried forward the spirit of friendly cooperation of the ancient Silk Road, cooperated on exchanges in culture, tourism, education, the media and academia, and promoted mutual learning among civilizations and cultural integration and innovation. (Xinhua) | 