Connected Development
The BRI serves as a key platform for promoting Chinese-style modernisation
In September and October 2013, Chinese President Xi Jinping proposed significant initiatives during his visits to Kazakhstan and Indonesia, which are collectively known as the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). Over the past decade, the BRI has evolved into a widely embraced international public good and a platform for international cooperation. As of May 2023, China has signed over 200 BRI cooperation agreements covering various fields with 152 countries and 32 international organisations.
This year marks the 10th anniversary of the BRI. Chinese newspaper Wenhui Bao sat down with three experts to hear their opinions on the achievements of the initiative and opportunities it brings. They are Xu Hongcai, deputy director of the Economic Policy Commission of the China Association of Policy Science, Mao Xinya, professor at the China Executive Leadership Academy Pudong, and Zou Lei, director of Opening-Up Strategy Research Centre of Shanghai Party Institute of the Communist Party of China (CPC). An edited excerpt of the interview follows:
Wenhui Bao: Promoting the construction of a community with a shared future for mankind is highlighted in the report to the 20th National Congress of the CPC as an essential requirement of the Chinesestyle modernisation. The BRI serves as a practical platform for building this community. Can you share the specific practices and achievements of Chinesestyle modernisation within the BRI framework? Zou: Over the past decade, with joint efforts by China and BRI countries, the initiative has shifted from vision to action, achieving significant tangible results and drawing more than 150 countries and over 30 international organisations into its “circle of friends.”
In essence, the BRI represents a global common modernisation plan involving a massive population and a commitment to peaceful development. Like Chinesestyle modernisation, it also aims to achieve common prosperity, material and cultural-ethical advancement, and harmony between humanity and nature, but in a bigger context involving BRI countries. This implies that Chinese-style modernisation is consistent with the BRI, with the two mutually reinforcing each other.
Within the BRI framework, Chinese-style modernisation upholds justice while pursuing shared interests, emphasises mutual reinforcement of domestic and international markets, and adheres to the path of openness, green development and innovation, consistently benefitting people in China and BRI countries. Since the launch of the BRI, the economic foundation for Chinesestyle modernisation has been steadily consolidated, with expanded presence in diversified international markets, and the economy has reached new heights in both scale and quality. The model’s international influence continues to rise, with an increasing number of countries viewing it as an opportunity for development, hoping to benefit from China’s fast development. The values and concepts of the model are increasingly accepted, as more and more countries recognise and identify with China’s development path, seeking to align their development strategies with China’s.
Xu: The achievements the BRI has made over the past 10 years are remarkable. China and BRI countries have made substantial progress in infrastructure connectivity. Investment has been expanded, and bilateral trade cooperation has been advanced to new heights, with these countries becoming important trade partners of China. These achievements reflect that Chinese-style modernisation is an approach that emphasises peace, development, cooperation and mutual benefit. BRI cooperation respects the rights of participating countries to determine their own affairs and development paths. For example, in Africa, China ensures that cooperation programmes are proposed, agreed upon and led by African countries and are based on their actual needs, with no political strings attached.
Mao: One of the distinct characteristics of Chinesestyle modernisation is its commitment to peaceful development. The BRI, upholding the Silk Road spirit that incorporates peace and cooperation, openness and inclusiveness, mutual learning as well as shared benefits, has seen a connectivity framework consisting of six corridors, six connectivity routes and multiple countries and ports put in place. It has transformed land-locked countries like Laos and Nepal into land-linked nations
Like Chinese-style modernisation, it also aims to achieve common prosperity, material and cultural-ethical advancement, and harmony between humanity and nature, but in a bigger context involving BRI countries.
and provided land-locked Kazakhstan with access to the sea. This initiative has created benefits such as saving transportation time and enhancing trade efficiency for participating countries. Through industrial capacity cooperation, it has promoted industrial structural upgrades in these countries, helping them to better integrate into regional and global value chains.
The initiative is significantly effective in poverty reduction and economic growth. According to World Bank estimates, the BRI will help to lift 7.6 million people out of extreme poverty and 32 million people out of moderate poverty by 2030. It can be said that the BRI has enabled the participating countries to board the express train of China’s development, bringing tangible benefits to their populations.
Under the BRI framework, China cooperates with participating countries on an equal and mutually beneficial basis, surpassing the old path of achieving modernisation through war, colonisation, and exploitation.
China will continue to promote high-level opening up, including the high-quality development of the BRI. What new opportunities can these bring to BRI countries?
Zou: Firstly, there is the opportunity of increased access to the Chinese market. Today, China is both the world’s factory and the world’s market. Expanding imports not only helps to meet China’s needs for industrial and consumption upgrades but also provides a bigger market for high-quality products from the BRI countries. Utilising platforms such as the China International Import Expo and Silk Road e-commerce cooperation, China has opened a “green lane” for participating countries, stimulating the development of their industries and trade.
Secondly, there is the opportunity for green development. The Green Silk Road is an essential part of the BRI. Based on the need for economic recovery and green development in the participating countries, China will deepen international cooperation in ecological environment and climate governance, with a focus on key areas such as green energy, green infrastructure, green transportation and green finance. This will allow China’s concept that lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets to benefit the people of these countries.
Thirdly, there is the opportunity for cooperation in technology innovation and digital economy. The world is witnessing a rapidly evolving technological revolution and industrial transformation. Adapting to these trends is essential for gaining an advantage in future international economic competition. China and BRI countries will tap cooperation potential and explore new growth areas, as well as promote technology empowerment and digital connectivity to better serve the industrialisation, urbanisation, and modernisation processes of these countries.