Here in Beijing, the second Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation (BRF) wrapped up just over a week ago. Now that the 39 heads of state and other ministers of countries from all corners of the world have left, the city is quieter and the roads are less congested, meaning a much quicker journey to work. That’s good, because what we all do now, after the forum, matters just as much as what was said at the forum.

I watched the key speech at the BRF – President Xi Jinping’s speech – from the Bloomberg studio, located in the financial district towards the south of the city, next to the headquarters of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank – the bank known globally for its “lean, clean and green” motto.

I had rushed to the studios directly after seeing Kenya’s President, Uhuru Kenyatta, deliver a speech to a room packed with Chinese and Kenyan business people on his expectations and aspirations for the future of the BRF.

With those aspirations in my mind, in my surroundings, and having my own views from working in China since a year after the Belt and Road Initiative was born – my host, Steven Engle asked me to prepare a few points that “stood out” as President Xi delivered his speech. He was going to grill me about them afterwards.

Four spoke out to me.

First, I was struck that nothing in President’s Xi’s speech implied a deceleration of BRI. With several more countries having joined – including the entire Middle East, over 70 percent of African countries, close to 90 percent of Asian countries and almost half the countries in the Caribbean, and with more international organizations such as the IMF pledging their support to the BRI, the speech implied it was gaining steam, including shifting in new directions.

As a development practitioner, I welcomed this – the 734 million poor people around the world, and 600 million unemployed African people, need a great deal of support to help them lift themselves out of poverty, and if BRI can be directed towards this support, the better.

Second, running a consultancy that focuses on green growth and sustainable development, especially in Africa, I was pleased to hear four specific phrases President Xi used in his speech: 1) high-quality infrastructure; 2) green financing; 3) transparency; and 4) access to China’s markets.

While I recognized that these key words were also targeted to a domestic audience, I welcomed them too as guiding principles for Chinese cooperation with poorer countries.

“High-quality” will be important for countries that don’t have established high standards to impose in contracts with Chinese or other partners – a sad but true reality. “Green” finance is crucial for ensuring countries make use of renewable energy solutions and avoid the pollution and climate change that richer, industrialised countries are now having to clean up. “Transparency” is crucial in helping citizens around the world understand the reality of BRI and avoid corruption. And “access” matters for those 40 African countries and others that want to turn around their current trade deficits with China and find new markets for their products and create much needed jobs at home.

Third, while the above were very positive, there were two points I would have liked to hear more on.

In a vlog prior to the BRF, I had pointed out the challenges that a practice that China and many other countries use - known as “closed procurement” of aid and loans - can create. China’s new foreign investment law may change this to “open procurement”, and if so, it will likely increase the effectiveness and productivity of further aid and loans through the BRI. Also, with the Kenyan President’s speech in mind, I would have liked to have heard more from China on using the BRI to drive foreign direct investment into countries such as Kenya. Why? Kenya and many other BRI countries are working hard to create new special economic zones as hubs of decent infrastructure, logistics and smooth business to attract factories from China into their countries, creating new jobs. Without strong direction from President Xi on this, my fear is that Chinese manufacturers will remain reluctant to move, and these efforts might be wasted.

Last but not least, as I reflected in the studio, a reality that I have come to understand over my 16-year career in international development also hit me. That whatever is said in the forum, what really matters is what happens next… “the implementation”.

As someone that left the cosy world of diplomacy to have more impact in the private sector, I hoped that governments and other business people like myself would not now sit back and relax.

So, immediately after my session at Bloomberg, I hopped on the subway back to the office and into meetings to get to work. This is because what matters about the BRF for us all begins now, to turn any positive words we heard at the forum into a reality and push for even more.

The author is CEO of Development Reimagined and a former policy and partnerships head for the United Nations Development Programme in China.

The author contributed this article to China Watch exclusively. The views expressed do not necessarily reflect those of China Watch.

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