The Belt and Road Initiative, featuring openness and win-win cooperation, is the answer to the rising unilateralism that the world faces today, according to officials and experts from China and and countries involved in the initiative at a forum held in Dunhuang, Northwest China’s Gansu province on Sept 20.
Guo Yezhou, vice-minister of the International Department of the CPC Central Committee, gives a speech at the forum. [photo provided to China Watch]
“International economic, diplomatic and security situations have witnessed profound and complex changes over recent years,” said Guo Yezhou, vice-minister of the International Department of the CPC Central Committee, in his speech at the Belt and Road Forum for International Think Tank Cooperation.
“The resurgence of protectionism, unilateralism, populism, exclusivism and de-globalization is worrisome,” he said. “Against this backdrop, the Belt and Road Initiative proves to be progressive and forward-looking.”
In the past five years since the initiative was proposed, China has signed cooperation agreements with more than 130 countries and international organizations, Guo said.
But the initiative is not just about economy or trade. It also highlights people-to-people exchanges and contributes to the building of a new-type relationship between major global powers, said the delegates.
Evariste Ndayishimiye, secretary-general of the CNDD-FDD of Burundi, the country’s ruling party, said in his keynote speech that the initiative is "a path to peace, prosperity, innovation and green development”.
“The spirit of the initiative determines that it will promote human advance,” he said. “It will become a cultural heritage shared by all involved parties.”
Ma Dongping, a research fellow and director of the Sociological Research Institute at Gansu Academy of Social Sciences, said people-to-people ties will not be enhanced spontaneously with economic growth, therefore “we need to not only tell the China stories to other countries, showcasing how China has made such socioeconomic achievement over a short period, but also tell the stories among the different peoples, to increase mutual respect, trust and benefit”.
Elisabeth Montenegro, member of the international department and coordinator for Latin America of the Communist Party of Spain, noted a widespread concern among European countries that they would be “crushed or invaded” by such a huge economy as China.
“There are of course challenges, but the solution should not be locking up borders or making hard-line tariff policies -- like what the US government has done,” she said. “A better way is through building a balanced and fair trade relationship. The age of colonialist trade is no more.”
Sergey Sanakoev, president of the Rogachev Center of Russian-China Studies, said although the Western countries once led globalization, they can no longer create new integration processes. “The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) has failed miserably, and the Trans-Atlantic Trade Investment Partnership (TTIP) does not stick together. This is because the partnerships are closed to countries such as China and Russia.”
In contrast, he said an important characteristic of the new institutions by emerging economies, such as the Belt and Road Initiative, is openness, which “fundamentally distinguishes the new norm of the world order from the outdated model of globalism in the Western scenario”.
“The most countries in the world, including China and Russia, see the future not in the victory over the West, but in the fair, win-win cooperation with various world centers,” he added.
With the theme of “the way towards future civilization”, the forum was co-organized by the Belt Road Think Tank Association of the International Department of the CPC Central Committee and the Gansu provincial government. As part of the third Silk Road (Dunhuang) International Culture Expo, the forum attracted about 150 delegates from more than 30 countries and regions around the world.
The Belt and Road Initiative, featuring openness and win-win cooperation, is the answer to the rising unilateralism that the world faces today, according to officials and experts from China and and countries involved in the initiative at a forum held in Dunhuang, Northwest China’s Gansu province on Sept 20.
Guo Yezhou, vice-minister of the International Department of the CPC Central Committee, gives a speech at the forum. [photo provided to China Watch]
“International economic, diplomatic and security situations have witnessed profound and complex changes over recent years,” said Guo Yezhou, vice-minister of the International Department of the CPC Central Committee, in his speech at the Belt and Road Forum for International Think Tank Cooperation.
“The resurgence of protectionism, unilateralism, populism, exclusivism and de-globalization is worrisome,” he said. “Against this backdrop, the Belt and Road Initiative proves to be progressive and forward-looking.”
In the past five years since the initiative was proposed, China has signed cooperation agreements with more than 130 countries and international organizations, Guo said.
But the initiative is not just about economy or trade. It also highlights people-to-people exchanges and contributes to the building of a new-type relationship between major global powers, said the delegates.
Evariste Ndayishimiye, secretary-general of the CNDD-FDD of Burundi, the country’s ruling party, said in his keynote speech that the initiative is "a path to peace, prosperity, innovation and green development”.
“The spirit of the initiative determines that it will promote human advance,” he said. “It will become a cultural heritage shared by all involved parties.”
Ma Dongping, a research fellow and director of the Sociological Research Institute at Gansu Academy of Social Sciences, said people-to-people ties will not be enhanced spontaneously with economic growth, therefore “we need to not only tell the China stories to other countries, showcasing how China has made such socioeconomic achievement over a short period, but also tell the stories among the different peoples, to increase mutual respect, trust and benefit”.
Elisabeth Montenegro, member of the international department and coordinator for Latin America of the Communist Party of Spain, noted a widespread concern among European countries that they would be “crushed or invaded” by such a huge economy as China.
“There are of course challenges, but the solution should not be locking up borders or making hard-line tariff policies -- like what the US government has done,” she said. “A better way is through building a balanced and fair trade relationship. The age of colonialist trade is no more.”
Sergey Sanakoev, president of the Rogachev Center of Russian-China Studies, said although the Western countries once led globalization, they can no longer create new integration processes. “The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) has failed miserably, and the Trans-Atlantic Trade Investment Partnership (TTIP) does not stick together. This is because the partnerships are closed to countries such as China and Russia.”
In contrast, he said an important characteristic of the new institutions by emerging economies, such as the Belt and Road Initiative, is openness, which “fundamentally distinguishes the new norm of the world order from the outdated model of globalism in the Western scenario”.
“The most countries in the world, including China and Russia, see the future not in the victory over the West, but in the fair, win-win cooperation with various world centers,” he added.
With the theme of “the way towards future civilization”, the forum was co-organized by the Belt Road Think Tank Association of the International Department of the CPC Central Committee and the Gansu provincial government. As part of the third Silk Road (Dunhuang) International Culture Expo, the forum attracted about 150 delegates from more than 30 countries and regions around the world.
