On August 27, Xi Jinping, General Secretary of the CPC Central Committee, President of the People's Republic of China, and Chairman of the Central Military Commission, attended the symposium on the 5th anniversary of the Belt and Road Initiative and delivered an important speech. In his speech, Xi summarized the remarkable achievements of the Belt and Road Initiative over the past five years, scientifically analyzed the new situation and new tasks, and made arrangements for promoting the Belt and Road Initiative to go deeper and more substantive. That day, the headline of Xinwen Lianbo focused on the relevant news.
The world today is in a period of major development, major transformation, and major adjustment. In order to grasp the correct course in this great change unseen in a century, Xi used four metaphors to vividly depict the Belt and Road Initiative.
Important Engine—Highlighting that the Chinese Solution Benefits the People of Countries along the Routes
The Belt and Road Initiative conforms to the inherent requirements of the reform of the global governance system, demonstrates the awareness of a community with a shared future featuring mutual assistance and shared rights and responsibilities, and provides new ideas and new solutions for improving the reform of the global governance system.
Like-minded people do not consider mountains and seas as far. Since the Belt and Road Initiative was proposed five years ago, it has received positive response and participation from around the world. Through five years of practice, the Belt and Road construction has been transformed from concept and vision into practical action and has made significant progress. In this speech, Xi used "engine" as a metaphor to describe the achievements of the Belt and Road construction over the past five years:
Over the past five years, the joint construction of the Belt and Road has significantly raised the level of trade and investment liberalization and facilitation in China, promoted the expansion of China's opening-up space from coastal and riverine areas to inland and border areas, and formed a new opening-up pattern featuring land-sea linkage at home and abroad and two-way mutual assistance between the east and the west.
The cumulative trade in goods between China and countries related to the Belt and Road has exceeded 5 trillion US dollars, and China's outward direct investment has exceeded 60 billion US dollars, creating more than 200,000 local jobs. China's outward investment has become an important engine driving the growth of global outward direct investment.
Since we proposed the Belt and Road Initiative in the autumn of 2013, it has aroused enthusiastic response from more and more countries. The joint construction of the Belt and Road is becoming a Chinese solution for China's participation in global open cooperation, improvement of the global economic governance system, promotion of global common development and prosperity, and advancement of building a community with a shared future for mankind.
No "China Club"—The Joint Construction of the Belt and Road Is an Open and Inclusive Process
The reason why the joint construction of the Belt and Road has received widespread support reflects the desire of all countries, especially the vast number of developing countries, to promote peace and seek development.
As the Belt and Road construction takes root and continues to advance, China and many countries along the routes have formed a mutually beneficial and win-win situation. In his speech, Xi reiterated that the Belt and Road adheres to dialogue and consultation, joint contribution and shared benefits, win-win cooperation, and mutual learning:
The joint construction of the Belt and Road is an economic cooperation initiative, not a geopolitical alliance or military alliance.
The joint construction of the Belt and Road is an open and inclusive process, not an attempt to close the door and form a small circle or "China Club."
The joint construction of the Belt and Road does not draw lines based on ideology and does not engage in zero-sum games. As long as countries are willing, we welcome them.
The joint construction of the Belt and Road is not only economic cooperation but also an important way to improve the global development model and global governance and promote the healthy development of economic globalization.
Meticulous "Gongbi Painting"—Promoting the Joint Construction of the Belt and Road to High-Quality Development
In the past few years, the joint construction of the Belt and Road has completed the overall layout and painted a "freehand brushwork." In the future, we should focus on key points, refine and carve carefully, and jointly draw a meticulous "gongbi painting." After five years of laying the foundation and erecting the pillars, the joint construction of the Belt and Road is moving toward the stage of taking root and sustainable development. How to achieve the transformation toward high-quality development in the joint construction of the Belt and Road? In his speech, Xi put forward requirements in six key areas:
We should work hard on project construction, establish working mechanisms, improve supporting support, make every effort to promote positive progress in projects, and pay attention to implementing livelihood projects that provide timely help, address the other side's urgent needs, and benefit local people.
We should work hard on market development, build more trade promotion platforms, guide capable enterprises to carry out investment cooperation in countries along the routes, develop new trade formats and models such as cross-border e-commerce, and pay attention to trade balance.
We should work hard on financial support, accelerate the formation of a policy system for financial support for the joint construction of the Belt and Road, orderly promote the internationalization of the renminbi, guide social funds to jointly invest in infrastructure, resource development, and other projects in countries along the routes, and provide foreign exchange funding support for enterprises going global.
We should promote vigorous exchanges in education, science and technology, culture, sports, tourism, health, archaeology, and other fields, and carry out effective livelihood assistance centered on the joint construction of the Belt and Road.
We should regulate corporate investment and business behavior, operate legally and compliantly, pay attention to environmental protection, fulfill social responsibilities, and become ambassadors for the joint construction of the Belt and Road.
We should attach great importance to overseas risk prevention, improve the security risk prevention system, and comprehensively enhance overseas security guarantees and risk response capabilities.
Grasp the Course—Ensure That the Belt and Road Construction Proceeds Steadily and Goes Far
We must have strategic vision, establish a global perspective, have both risk awareness and awareness of historical opportunities, and strive to grasp the course in this great change unseen in a century.
Xi once compared economic globalization to the "ocean" and used "swimming in the sea" as a metaphor to explain China's experience in participating in and integrating into economic globalization. In the field of promoting the joint construction of the Belt and Road, how to ensure that this "Chinese solution" proceeds steadily and goes far? Based on domestic considerations, Xi made plans from three aspects:
All regions and departments should enhance the "Four Consciousnesses," firm up the "Four Confidences," and proactively plan and promote the joint construction of the Belt and Road from the overall situation of the Party and the country.
The leading group for promoting the Belt and Road construction should, according to the unified deployment of the Party Central Committee, play a leading and coordinating role, coordinate all regions and departments, clarify work priorities, refine work plans, decompose tasks layer by layer, strengthen supervision and inspection, and promote the implementation of relevant deployments and measures one by one.
All regions should strengthen the alignment of the joint construction of the Belt and Road with national strategies such as the coordinated development of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, the development of the Yangtze River Economic Belt, and the construction of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, promote the opening-up of the western region and the northeastern region in a larger scope and at a higher level, boost inland and border areas to become the frontier of opening-up, and drive the formation of an opening-up pattern featuring land-sea linkage at home and abroad and two-way mutual assistance between the east and the west.