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China’s President Xi Jinping first announced the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) in 2013. After five years, it is now evident that the BRI is not just a series of one-time infrastructure projects or another outbound investment program, but a long-term strategic initiative that aims to open the world to China and to open China to the world. I believe the BRI will add momentum to China’s opening-up and ultimately establish an open, inclusive and balanced regional economic cooperation that benefits all.

Macroeconomic predictions indicate that global trade will soar in the coming decades. Its volume in 2050 is expected to be eight times that of 2010. As possibly the biggest continuous investment of all time, the BRI has the potential to be a major driver of global economic growth in the next 20 to 30 years. By 2025, BRI infrastructure projects worth roughly 1 trillion euro (US$1.16 trillion) are expected to be completed or in progress in about 90 BRI countries. This figure is likely to climb as more and more countries join the initiative. It is estimated that BRI will touch the lives of 70 percent of the global population.

The aspiration China explicitly attaches to the BRI is to share knowledge and create mutual business opportunities, to strengthen ties among countries in Asia, Europe, and Africa and beyond, and to foster trade, progress, and prosperity. This is the right signal at the right time. Today, we are witnessing a resurgence of protectionism all over the world. There