Road toward mutual prosperity
▶ New means of cooperation discussed at BRI dialogue in Yunnan
The issue of debt is not really a problem in the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) as China has means and ways of easing it, and is not making things difficult, said a senior Chinese official in a dialogue recently attended by more than 150 officials, political party leaders and scholars from 18 countries in Southeast and South Asia.
“For example, China will never chase the African countries to pay back debts. African countries do not complain that China is creating debt for them. Instead, they welcome China’s loans, funding and financial support, which means so much for the improvement of people’s living standards,” said Liu Jianchao, head of the International Department of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee. Liu was speaking last week, after representatives from the Philippines, India, Pakistan and Nepal shared their views and concerns over the BRI at the event titled CPC in Dialogue with Political Parties of Southeast and South Asian Countries.
Choosing the city of Kunming in Southwest China’s border province Yunnan as the event location, the International Department invited guests from countries including Vietnam, Thailand, Laos, Myanmar, Cambodia, Malaysia, Singapore, the Philippines, Indonesia, and Brunei, as well as India, Nepal, Bhutan, Pakistan, Bangladesh, the Maldives and Sri Lanka. The dialogue is aimed at boosting future cooperation under the BRI.
Through the BRI, China is trying to provide sustainable public goods that meet ordinary people’s true needs and interests. The initiative is open to all countries, including the US, Australia, Japan, South Korea and European countries, Liu emphasized.
Open discussion
John Ross, former director of economic and business policy for the Mayor of London, was also invited to the event. He told the Global Times that compared with Europe, which is currently suffering low economic growth, severe inflation and disastrous conflict, Asia has a combination of peace and the most rapid economic development in the world. The BRI is a key underpinning of that, he said.
Ross said the BRI is quite different to the traditional concepts promoted by the US. “The US promoted the reduction of tariffs in the process of globalization after World War II for over 60 years. But the problem is that reduction of tariffs gives the financial possibility rather than the practical possibility to try it. The BRI is a step forward as it provided the material means, the physical means by which to carry out training and build railway and ports,” said Ross.
We have an English saying “imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.” Now the US and some Western countries are trying to copy BRI and catch up with it, but they don’t have the resources to do it, Ross noted.
“If Southeast Asia is the most rapidly growing area outside of China, then Yunnan is the perfect geographical link,” Ross said.
Besides the open dialogue, highlevel meetings were held between Chinese and foreign officials to explore future cooperation prospects.
“I have met with Wang Yubo, the governor of Yunnan Province, and people in charge of Yunnan Energy Investment Group this afternoon to discuss the potential for cooperation, as the clean energy aspects of the BRI align with the clean energy policies proposed by our government,” Pirapan Salirathavibhaga, deputy Prime Minister of Thailand and leader of the United Thai Nation Party, told the Global Times during the event.
When asked about the construction situation of the Thailand-China highspeed line, Pirapan said the Thai government is committed to promoting the project and is working to address problems such as land acquisition issues, given that some Thai people are worried about the impact on their farmland and on the residents living near the route.
Three seminars were also held at Yunnan Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Yunnan University and Yunnan Minzu University. Chinese scholars shared experiences and discussed cooperation prospects with the foreign guests in areas such as agriculture, the environment and talent cultivation.
Exchange views
The foreign guests also visited the Xiaoyu village located on the southern shore of Dianchi Lake the day before the dialogue. Changing from a place where villagers lived in poverty and made a living by fishery, the village now has improved its roads and houses with funds from local government and had cleaner water environment after pollution control. It now relies on the attractive scenery to boost tourism. The camping area near the wetland alone has a daily income of 10,000 yuan ($1,380), according to local tourism management staff.
Madhav Kumar Nepal, former prime minister of Nepal and chairman of the Communist Party of Nepal, told the Global Times that he was impressed by Yunnan’s agricultural development, after hearing professors from Yunnan University introduced the restoration of plateau lakes, the cultivation of distinctive green plants to support poverty alleviation in border mountain areas, and the technology for cultivating perennial rice.
“Nepal also has abundant natural resources and can get more benefit from the experiences of China on how to develop our water resources, and how to develop agricultural products,” said Nepal.
Wang Ning, secretary of the CPC Yunnan Provincial Committee, vowed to deepen cooperation in rural industry and rural construction to support regional poverty reduction and to keep improving roads, railways, aviation and water transportation to facilitate the flow of people and goods.
“Southeast and South Asian countries have rich agricultural, energy, and tourism resources that complement our strengths. We are willing to cooperate with countries to develop cross-border agriculture, cross-border tourism, and clean energy, and to strengthen international ecological environmental protection,” said Wang.