Xinhua News Agency, Beijing, December 2, special report | Building Yourself, Achieving People and Benefiting the World – Jointly Building the “the Belt and Road” with High Quality to Promote Global Common Development
Witnessing the opening of Qiankai Port with his own eyes, Peruvian engineer Omar Alayo felt the “burning joy” amidst the cheers on site; Looking back on the three years of the opening of the China Laos Railway, Sonma Bensheina, Vice President of the Lao National Assembly, was very excited about the realization of the dream of the Lao people
The joint construction of the “the Belt and Road” has entered a new stage of high-quality development. China continues to promote development through interconnectivity and seek win-win outcomes through mutual benefit, focusing on cultivating new quality productive forces and exploring new growth points. We work hand in hand with developing countries to build an open, inclusive, interconnected, and jointly developed world, injecting confidence and momentum into the modernization of the world, achieving fruitful new results, and consolidating broader consensus.
Enhance the world and improve people’s livelihoods and well-being
On November 14th, the lights of Qiankai Port were shining brightly at night. The suspension bridge unloaded a container from the “Peru ship” and loaded another container onto the “New Shanghai ship”. This key project of the “the Belt and Road” jointly built by China and Peru has been officially put into operation, and a new era of land and sea channel for Asia and Latin America has been born.
On November 14th, intelligent equipment was used to lift containers at the Qiankai Port north of Lima, the capital of Peru. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Li Mengxin
On November 15th, the 10000th China Europe freight train – X8083 China Europe freight train (Chongqing Duisburg) departed from Chongqing Tuanjie Village Central Station (drone photo). Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Wang Quanchao
Nowadays, the “steel camel caravan” of the new era has set a new record – the China Europe freight train has operated more than 100000 trains, sent over 11 million TEUs of goods, and had a value of over 420 billion US dollars. Chongqing Tuanjie Village Central Station has developed from a small railway station to an international railway station. Duisburg has attracted a large number of logistics and warehousing enterprises to settle in, transforming from a once resource depleted small town to an important logistics hub.
Volcker Chapk, honorary chairman of the Prussian Association in Berlin, Germany, believes that the joint construction of the “the Belt and Road” cooperation will promote trade exchanges through logistics integration, thus promoting industrial prosperity, regional development and benefiting the people of all countries.
On December 3 this year, the China Laos Railway, the flagship project of the “the Belt and Road” cooperation between China and Laos, will celebrate its third anniversary of operation. Vice President of the Laotian National Assembly, Songma Besana, still vividly remembers the railway opening ceremony three years ago. He still remembers a sentence from General Secretary Xi Jinping in a video link: “Once the railway is connected, the mountains from Kunming to Vientiane will no longer be high and the road will no longer be long.” Songma Besana said that this modernized railway injects momentum into the poverty reduction cause of the Laotian people and brings investment and development opportunities to Laos.
On April 12, at Laos Luang Prabang Station of China Laos Railway, the passenger duty officer stood on guard to greet the train. Xinhua News Agency (Photo by Yang Yongquan)
Today, the international passenger trains on the China Laos railway are popular, and cross border travel is popular. In Vientiane, the terminus of the China Laos Railway, Vientiane South Dressing Yard was a busy scene. Another Sino Laos “the Belt and Road” cooperation project adjacent to the freight station, the Saisita Comprehensive Development Zone, has enjoyed a promising development momentum and has attracted multinational enterprises from Thailand, Singapore, Japan and other countries to settle in.
Tung Meng David, a researcher at the Institute of International Issues and Public Policy, Royal University of Phnom Penh, Cambodia, said that the joint construction of the “the Belt and Road” would improve infrastructure construction and connectivity, create tens of thousands of jobs, and help countries achieve a common vision of peaceful development, win-win cooperation and common prosperity.
Strategic docking, continuously expanding the ‘circle of friends’
Rui Costa, Chief Minister of the Brazilian Presidential Office, witnessed this historic moment on site. “We have high expectations for the strategic alignment between the two countries, and believe that this will further unleash Brazil’s economic vitality.” He said that Brazil is vigorously promoting the “accelerated growth plan”, “South American integration route plan” and other development strategies are highly consistent with the “the Belt and Road” initiative.
The joint construction of the Belt and Road Initiative is an economic cooperation initiative, not a geopolitical or military alliance; it is an open and inclusive process, not a closed door small circle or ‘China Club’; it is not based on ideological boundaries or zero sum games. As long as countries have the willingness, we welcome it. “In August 2018, General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized at the 5th anniversary symposium of promoting the construction of the Belt and Road Initiative.
From connecting Asia and Europe, crossing Africa to comprehensively launching in Latin America, the “circle of friends” for jointly building the “the Belt and Road” cooperation has become more and more extensive, with more and more good partners and higher quality cooperation.
From Kazakhstan’s “Bright Road” new economic policy to Mongolia’s “Prairie Road” development strategy, from Vietnam’s “Two Corridors and One Circle” framework to Saudi Arabia’s “2030 Vision”, from the construction of the Eurasian Economic Union to the African Union’s 2063 Agenda… A number of national and regional development strategies have been deeply linked to the joint construction of the “the Belt and Road” initiative, and a number of major landmark projects have been completed, bringing together the largest common denominator for common development of all countries.
On May 6th, on the slopes along the Malaysia East Rail project in Pahang, two lines of Chinese and Malay characters reading “Together for consultation, co construction, and sharing, creating a better future” came into view. Photo by Cheng Yiheng, Xinhua News Agency reporter
Co consultation, co construction and sharing, co creating a better future. “Located near Kuantan in Pahang, Malaysia, the two line large characters written in Chinese and Malay on the hillside are particularly eye-catching. As a key project for the in-depth connection between the “the Belt and Road” initiative and the Malaysian “Changming Economy” framework, the East Coast Railway Project bears the dream of connecting the east and west coasts of Malaysia and helping the local economic development to accelerate.
The heads of state of China and Indonesia are personally concerned about promoting and witnessing the launch of the Ya’an Wanzhou high-speed railway, which is a landmark project for the joint construction of the “the Belt and Road” initiative and Indonesia’s “global maritime fulcrum” concept. For over a year, the teams of the two countries have cooperated comprehensively in high-speed rail operation and management, talent cultivation, technology transfer, and other aspects. Indonesian youth Arista is proud to be able to drive high-speed trains under the guidance of Chinese coaches.
“This cooperation highlights the partnership of equality and mutual benefit.” Veronica Saraswati, director of the Indonesia China Partnership Research Center, said that adhering to the principle of joint consultation, joint construction and sharing, the “the Belt and Road” cooperation supports all countries’ equal participation in decision-making, and also promotes the democratization of international relations.
On October 17th, at Padararam Station in Indonesia, passengers took a selfie in front of the Jakarta Bandung high-speed train. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Xu Qin
Lami Nyongesa Mulaku, an expert on Kenyan international issues, said that the joint construction of the “the Belt and Road” and Kenya’s “2030 Vision Plan” have effectively implemented a large number of projects and won high recognition from Kenya and surrounding countries. China adheres to a development cooperation model of non-interference in internal affairs and no additional conditions, which is more in line with the development needs of African countries and is widely welcomed
If you have good relationships, you can be friends for thousands of miles. When like-minded people respect each other, adhere to the principle of joint discussion, joint construction and sharing, and the journey of jointly building the “the Belt and Road” is bound to be crowded with people, paving this road of prosperity and happiness wider and farther.
Facing the future, empowering the modernization of the global South
At the first phase of the 19th G20 Summit held on November 18th, President Xi Jinping listed “Joining Hands to Build the Belt and Road Initiative with High Quality” as the top eight actions for China to support global development.
It is China’s consistent proposition to inject new momentum into world economic growth, open up new space for global development, and create a new platform for international economic cooperation, which is also the original intention of the “the Belt and Road” initiative.
General Secretary Xi Jinping has repeatedly discussed ideas and paths at symposiums on the construction of the Belt and Road Initiative, guiding the direction of international cooperation on the initiative with the spirit of nailing down the nail and pushing forward the construction step by step. He has also strived to achieve higher levels of cooperation, higher investment efficiency, higher supply quality, and higher development resilience.
This is the Silk Road E-commerce Hall of the second Global Digital Trade Expo, which was shot on November 23, 2023. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Xu Yu
Facing the future, the joint construction of the “the Belt and Road” will anchor innovative development, lead by the green silk road, empower the digital silk road, and help the southern countries of the world to achieve high-quality development.
China has launched the “the Belt and Road” green development partnership initiative with more than 30 countries to actively help countries strengthen green talent training; Implement the ‘Green Silk Road Ambassador Program’ and train thousands of people from over 100 co built countries; The booming development of “Silk Road e-commerce” has become a new channel for bilateral and multilateral economic and trade cooperation between China and co building countries. Many characteristic products have boarded the fast train of China and entered the global market.
Yasiru Ranaraja, founding director of the the Belt and Road Initiative in Sri Lanka and an expert on international issues, said that the “the Belt and Road Initiative” attaches importance to green development and sustainable development, and demonstrates China’s commitment to environmentally friendly growth, which is an important aspect of achieving sustainable modernization in the global southern countries.
On August 4th, at the China Aid to Rwanda Agricultural Technology Demonstration Center located in Huye District, Southern Province of Rwanda, Lin Zhanxi, the inventor of mushroom grass, explained mushroom grass technology to the trainees of the training class. Xinhua News Agency (photo by Huang Wanqing)
Facing the future, the joint construction of the “the Belt and Road” will continue to improve the mechanism construction, promote the “soft connectivity” to go deeper and more practical, and build more “heart to heart connectivity” bridges.
From Central Asia to Africa, more and more “Luban workshops” are taking root, and the advanced concepts of Chinese vocational education are benefiting more and more countries; From Pacific island countries to Africa, the mushroom grass technology training program has brought the “happy grass” from China to benefit the world, helping countries to overcome poverty and move towards sustainable development… Each “small and beautiful” project paves the way for common development and builds a bridge of people to people communication.
From energy, taxation, disaster reduction, anti-corruption to think tank and media cooperation, China and its co construction partners are continuously promoting the construction of multilateral cooperation platforms in multiple fields; The “Liangzhu Forum” has been successfully held twice, and the “Asian Cultural Heritage Protection Action” has entered a new stage of development; The Silk Road Tourism Cities Alliance, the Silk Road International Theatre Alliance, and other organizations are constantly growing and expanding… We are closely weaving a network of cultural dialogue and cooperation, opening up new paths for cultural exchanges, and deepening cultural exchanges between China and co building countries, continuously promoting the common prosperity and peaceful coexistence of diverse civilizations.
This is the landscape layout of the “the Belt and Road” International Cooperation Summit Forum photographed near Beitucheng Road in Beijing on October 16, 2023. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Chen Bin
The chief editor of Kazakhstan Industry Daily, Sherik Korrumbayev, said that under the framework of the joint construction of the “the Belt and Road”, China has strengthened people to people and cultural exchanges with the joint construction of the country and actively promoted people to people affinity.
In the opinion of Luis Antonio Paolino, President of the Confucius Institute at Sao Paulo State University in Brazil, the joint construction of the “the Belt and Road” cooperation has always focused on the development of countries in the global South, as a link connecting countries, and is committed to promoting the modernization process of the global South.
China has always been a member of the ‘Global South’, a reliable long-term partner for developing countries, and an action oriented and practical supporter of global development. This is China’s declaration and action.
China will work with other countries to jointly build the “the Belt and Road” to achieve higher quality and level of development, move towards the goal of world modernization of building peaceful development, mutually beneficial cooperation and common prosperity, and make new and greater contributions to building a community with a shared future for mankind.