一带一路十周年｜第三届“一带一路”国际合作高峰论坛看点前瞻

The third "Belt and Road" International Cooperation Summit Forum will be held in Beijing from October 17th to 18th.

On the occasion of the 10th anniversary of the joint construction of the "Belt and Road" initiative, the holding of the summit forum has attracted much attention. What are the highlights of this forum? "Xinhua Viewpoint" reporters sorted it out from four aspects.

Highlight 1: President Xi Jinping will work with all parties to draw a new blueprint for high-quality joint construction of the “Belt and Road”

The theme of this summit forum is "High-quality joint construction of the 'Belt and Road' and joint efforts to achieve common development and prosperity." President Xi Jinping will attend the opening ceremony of the summit forum and deliver a keynote speech, and hold a welcome banquet and bilateral activities for guests coming to China to attend the summit forum.

"Holding the third Belt and Road International Cooperation Summit Forum is my country's most important home diplomacy this year and the most solemn event of the 10th anniversary of the Belt and Road Initiative." Vice Foreign Minister Ma Zhaoxu accepted an exclusive interview with Xinhua News Agency reporters on the eve of the forum Shi said.

In 2013, President Xi Jinping proposed the joint construction of the "Silk Road Economic Belt" and the "21st Century Maritime Silk Road", that is, the joint construction of the "Belt and Road" initiative. Over the past 10 years, with the joint efforts of all parties, the Belt and Road Initiative has been transformed from concept to action, and from vision to reality.

"The 'One Belt, One Road' initiative originates from China, but belongs to the world. The 'Belt and Road Initiative' construction spans different regions, different development stages, and different civilizations. It is an open and inclusive cooperation platform and a global public product jointly created by all parties. It is based on Asia's Focusing on the European continent, it is open to all like-minded friends, without excluding or targeting any party." On May 15, 2017, President Xi Jinping said in his opening speech at the roundtable summit of the first "Belt and Road" International Cooperation Summit Forum.

"This year marks the 10th anniversary of my proposing the 'Belt and Road' initiative. China will hold the third 'Belt and Road' International Cooperation Summit Forum. All parties are welcome to participate in the forum activities and jointly pave this road of happiness for the benefit of the world wider and more Far away." On July 4, 2023, President Xi Jinping said when he attended the 23rd meeting of the Council of Heads of State of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization via video link in Beijing and delivered an important speech.

So far, representatives from more than 140 countries and more than 30 international organizations have confirmed their participation in the meeting, including leaders of relevant countries, heads of international organizations, ministerial officials, and people from the business community, academic institutions, non-governmental organizations and other walks of life. The number of registered guests has exceeded 4,000.

Ma Zhaoxu said that all parties attending the meeting are here for cooperation, to support the “Belt and Road” initiative, and to promote common development. Under the current international situation, this summit forum will fully demonstrate the distinctive characteristics of China’s “One Belt, One Road” initiative, global response, and win-win outcomes for the world.

In the past 10 years, China has signed more than 200 cooperation documents on the Belt and Road Initiative with more than 150 countries and more than 30 international organizations on five continents; more than 3,000 cooperation projects have been formed, driving trillions of dollars in investment; "Six Corridors and Six Roads" The interconnection architecture of "multiple countries and multiple ports" has been basically formed, and the co-building countries continue to deepen cooperation in areas such as rules and standards.

Point 2: The arrangement of forum activities is meaningful　

In addition to the opening ceremony, three high-level forums will be held to conduct in-depth exchanges around the themes of connectivity, green development, and digital economy, as well as parallel topics such as unimpeded trade, people-to-people connectivity, think tank exchanges, clean Silk Road, local cooperation, and maritime cooperation. 6 special forums were held. During the forum, a “Belt and Road” Entrepreneurs Conference will also be held.

Hu Biliang, executive dean of Beijing Normal University's "Belt and Road" Institute, said that in the context of globalization encountering headwinds, the theme of the forum focuses on common development and prosperity, which will greatly enhance the international community's expectations for economic globalization. In an uncertain and unstable world, countries urgently need to bridge differences through dialogue, oppose divisions through unity, and promote development through cooperation. The significance of jointly building the "Belt and Road" has become increasingly evident, and its prospects are even more promising.

Wang Wen, executive director of the Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies at Renmin University of China, said that the topics of the three high-level forums and six thematic forums covered all aspects of infrastructure "hard connectivity", rules and standards "soft connectivity", and jointly building the country's people's "heart connectivity" , all parties will use this as a platform to conduct in-depth discussions on high-quality joint construction of the "Belt and Road". The Entrepreneurs Conference was an innovative move during the second summit forum in 2019. It established an effective platform for Chinese and foreign enterprises to negotiate and sign cooperation agreements, demonstrating the huge business opportunities brought by the joint construction of the "Belt and Road".

Highlight 3: The total output of the forum is expected to exceed that of the previous two sessions

This summit forum will issue a presidential statement to summarize the consensus reached by all participating parties and clarify the direction and key areas of cooperation in promoting high-quality joint construction of the "Belt and Road" in the next stage. The forum will also release a list of multilateral cooperation outcome documents and a list of pragmatic cooperation projects, comprehensively sorting out and summarizing various results formed within the framework of three high-level forums and six special forums. At the Entrepreneurs Conference, Chinese and foreign enterprises will also discuss and sign a number of cooperation projects.

Ma Zhaoxu said that judging from the current situation, the results expected to be achieved by this summit forum are quite rich, including results in cooperation documents, cooperation initiatives, and cooperation mechanisms, as well as results in projects, funds, and measures. The total is expected to exceed The first two summit forums.

Wang Wen said that the second summit forum achieved 283 practical results in 6 categories. It is expected that this forum will also achieve a large number of practical results, continue to help jointly build countries to break the bottleneck of connectivity, and drive countries to eliminate poverty, improve people's livelihood, and promote employment.

"Currently, goods from co-building countries account for nearly half of China's overall imports, and a large number of Chinese companies have established a foothold in the international market." Wang Wen said that the joint construction of the "Belt and Road" is an important step for China's opening up and foreign cooperation. According to the overall plan, the various cooperation results of the forum will help China achieve high-quality development in opening up and provide new opportunities for the world with China's new development.

Point 4: Planning for a better future under the Belt and Road Initiative

"We will adhere to the 'golden rule' of extensive consultation, joint contribution and shared benefits, adhere to the concept of open, green, and clean cooperation, adhere to the development goals of high standards, sustainability, and benefiting people's livelihood, and work with our partners to develop a broader and deeper We will promote high-quality joint construction of the Belt and Road Initiative at a higher level and continue to move towards the goal of common development and prosperity." Ma Zhaoxu said.

Hu Biliang said that all parties will actively carry out dialogue on green development policies for the Belt and Road Initiative through the forum and will further deepen practical cooperation in green infrastructure, green energy, green transportation, green finance and other fields. In his view, the joint construction of the "Belt and Road" takes integrity as an inherent requirement and necessary condition, which is conducive to the efficient operation of funds and projects and the better implementation of various cooperations.

Wang Wen said that the holding of the summit forum will show the world that the joint construction of the "Belt and Road" will be a long-term, cross-border, systematic world project and century project, demonstrating China's overall success in promoting the joint construction of the "Belt and Road" , and promote the confidence and determination to build a community with a shared future for mankind.

Experts say that in the first 10 years, high-quality joint construction of the Belt and Road Initiative has yielded fruitful results. Starting from a new historical starting point, the joint construction of the "Belt and Road" will be more innovative and dynamic, more open and inclusive, and open new windows of opportunity, prosperity and happiness for China and the world.