By Yu Ning
Chinese President Xi Jinping put forward the "Silk Road Economic Belt" and "21st Century Maritime Silk Road" initiatives during his visits to Central Asia and Southeast Asia in 2013. For the past year, both initiatives helped promote China's cooperation with countries in Central and Southeast Asia, in areas like trade and monetary cooperation, transport connectivity and people-to-people exchanges.
The "Silk Road Economic Belt" stretches from China to Europe through West Asia, and the "21st Century Maritime Silk Road" extends from China to the Indian Ocean, the Arabian Sea and the Gulf through Southeast Asia. They are universally benefiting open and inclusive economic belts for win-win cooperation.
Along the northern Silk Road, the cooperation has promoted a rapid increase in trade volume between China and four Central Asian countries: Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan. Mutual trade jumped to US$40.2 billion in 2013, nearly 100 times that of 1992. In the meantime, the revival of the Silk Road Economy has also helped improve infrastructure construction, create jobs and support local economies along the route.
Likewise, the Southern Silk Road has also proved important for China and South Asia, which are now home to nearly 2.8 billion people. Bilateral trade has increased to about US$100 billion in 2013; up from US$35 billion in 2006.
To work together to revive both the Silk Roads meets the trend of the times for regional cooperation. It is conducive to realizing mutual exchanges and complementary advantages among the related regions, as well as establishing and improving the supply chain, industry chain and value chain across the Asian and European continents, thereby bringing Pan-Asia and Asia-Europe regional cooperation to a new high. It will also help the Asian and European countries explore the potential of regional and domestic demands, create new economic growth points, strengthen the endogenous dynamics and risk-resistance capability of the economy, and push forward the transformation and upgrading of the economy.
Successful implementation of the initiatives also meets the demand of China's own development and its cooperation with other countries. It will help to expand and accelerate the opening-up of the inland and border areas in China.
The "Belt and Road Initiatives" covers five areas of communication and connectivity, highlights practical cooperation and project cooperation, and will bring tangible benefits to the peoples of the relevant countries:
First, communication on policies. All countries concerned can fully communicate with each other on economic development strategies and solutions. They can work out plans and measures for regional cooperation through consultations, to give a "green light" to policymaking for regional economic integration.
Second, connectivity of roads. China and relevant countries need to find ways to improve cross-border transportation infrastructure, and build up a transportation network connecting all sub-regions of Asia as well as Europe and Africa, to effectively solve the problems of "having no roads or contact," "having roads yet no contact" and "having contact but getting jammed."
Third, facilitation for trade. Countries concerned can explore the ways to facilitate trade and investment and make appropriate arrangements to remove trade and investment barriers, and improve the speed and quality of the circulation of the regional economy.
Fourth, circulation of currencies. Countries concerned should promote local currency clearing and currency swaps, and strengthen bilateral and multilateral financial cooperation. They should build regional developmental financial institutions, reduce transaction costs, increase the ability to withstand financial risks through regional arrangements, and make the region more economically competitive in the world.
Fifth, amity among peoples. China and relevant countries should consolidate the foundation of popular support for state-to-state relations, promote exchanges and dialogues among different civilizations, and strengthen friendly exchanges among the peoples, especially among the grassroots, so as to enhance mutual understanding and traditional friendship.
Implementation of the "Belt and Road Initiatives" is a long-term and systematic project. It therefore requires step-by-step efforts to increase overall regional cooperation.
The writer is Lecturer of Beijing International Studies University, and a columnist with China.org.cn.