Towards Another Golden Decade

If one was to name the programmes that have been pushing development of the countries around the world for common prosperity in the past decade, the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) would definitely be one of them. Also known as the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, which were put forward by Chinese President Xi Jinping in 2013, the BRI has made great strides in promoting development in all aspects in the participating countries by encouraging policy coordination, facilities connectivity, unimpeded trade, financial integration and people-to-people bonds.

For thousands of years, the ancient Silk

Road and the Maritime Silk Road have witnessed strong connections and vibrant trade between China and the rest of the world; today, the roads are still playing pivotal roles in intensifying linkages among related countries.

The essence of the BRI is “joint construction” by China and the countries that have joined the BRI in accordance with the principles of extensive consultation, joint contribution and shared benefits. All the projects under the framework should be conducted on the basis of consensus.

Since its inception in 2013, the BRI has seen China and related countries share opportunities for common development. It has provided a Chinese solution to solving the bottlenecks in the world development, and acted as a hedge against the rising trade protectionism in the Western developed countries.

Statistics show that China has signed more than 200 cooperation documents with 152 countries and 32 international organisations. More than 3,000 cooperation projects have been conducted under the BRI framework with investment of nearly $1 trillion, creating over 420,000 jobs in related countries and helping more than 40 million people out of poverty.

Africa is an important part of the BRI. Directed by Chinese and African leaders, the BRI is well aligned with the AU’s Agenda 2063 and the development strategies of various African countries, promoting fast development of the China-Africa comprehensive strategic cooperation partnership and creating a multidimensional, multi-level cooperation structure. So far, 52 African countries and the AU Commission have signed cooperative documents with China on jointly implementing the BRI.

Underpinned by the BRI framework, African countries have greatly improved their infrastructure connectivity in the past decade. The New Administrative Capital project in Egypt, the Kribi-Lolabe Highway project in Cameroon, the Lekki Deep Sea Port in Nigeria, the Mombasa-Nairobi Standard Gauge Railway project in Kenya, the Addis Ababa-Djibouti Railway project and the

Africa CDC Headquarters project are pushing forward social and economic development in the areas where they are located. Chinese companies have constructed more than half of the wireless sites and high-speed mobile broadband networks in Africa, and installed more than 200,000 km of optical fibre, helping African countries to narrow the “digital divide.”

In the past 10 years, the BRI has been perfecting its cooperation plans by better coordinating policies. Since its launch, the BRI is widely supported and participated by related countries, and the foundations for bilateral and multilateral cooperation have been consolidated. It is expected that the BRI cooperation will usher in a brighter future in the next golden decade.