China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is a collaborative model aimed at promoting win-win cooperation and benefiting all participating countries, a Ukrainian expert said recently.

"The BRI is the format in which China today talks to the world and offers the option of joint cooperation and ... mutual benefits," said Viktor Kiktenko, president of Ukrainian Association of Sinologists.

Proposed by China in 2013, the initiative has proved effective in connecting countries around the globe through economic, political, cultural and humanitarian links, the expert said.

"Over the years, it has become clear that this is not just a regional initiative and not just some kind of economic project, like many others," Kiktenko said. "This is a completely new view ... on the world; this is a new foreign policy of China; this is a new proposal of China to the whole world."

He added that the BRI also paves the way for other ideas that promote common development and prosperity globally, such as the concept of building a community with a shared future for mankind.

"This is a concept (saying) that there is a common world and it is necessary to learn how to live together," Kiktenko said.

Kiktenko said he will participate in the thematic forum of think-tank exchanges at the second Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation in Beijing later this month, stressing that such forum could promote understanding among countries participating in the BRI and boost their cooperation.