BRI to promote international relations

BEIJING: China has come out with a new diplomatic strategy, promoting its international relations through Belt and Road initiative (BRI), says a report published in Chinese official media on Sunday.

In the past five years China has been actively promoting international cooperation through the BRI and increasing assistance to other developing countries, especially the least developed countries, and doing its part in reducing development gap between the South and the North.

According to the report, the BRI is an answer to a variety of crises across the world, ranging from infrastructure bottlenecks and funding shortages to protectionism and unilateralism. President Xi Jinping rightly pointed out at the 2018 Boao Forum for Asia (BFA) that the BRI is not an intrigue of China, as alleged by someone overseas, but aimed at benefiting more countries and people.

He also said that China will continue to pursue BRI to create new opportunities of social and economic development and in doing so help participating countries to implement the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

According to the officials, surely, Xi’s remark has provided a beacon of hope to all small, weak and vulnerable countries around the world, which are enthusiastic for partnering with China on economic, political, and infrastructural development.

The BRI, which has two main prongs - the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, was first put forward by President Xi in the autumn of 2013. The BRI has since become a popular initiative and the best platform for international cooperation with the brightest prospects in the world. Some describe Xi’s signature approach to promoting economic development as the biggest development push in history. China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi has described the initiative as a “symphony of all relevant parties”. Undoubtedly, the initiative has had a huge impact, especially in the developing world, reinforcing China's links to Asia, Europe, and Africa through networks of roads, ports, railways, power plants, and other infrastructure projects with gross investment of $1.2 trillion (net $880 billion) over the period 2015-2030.