SCIO press conference on white paper 'The Belt and Road Initiative: A Key Pillar of the Global Community of Shared Future'

China.org.cn | October 16, 2023

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Phoenix TV:

The third Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation is about to commence, and there has been a significant amount of discussion about the BRI recently. Some commentators have suggested that China's promotion of the BRI is driven by geopolitical considerations. May I ask if there is any response regarding this point from China? Thank you.

Li Kexin:

The BRI is an international economic cooperation initiative. We adhere to the principles of openness, inclusiveness, cooperation, and win-win outcomes and advocate for achieving shared growth through consultation and collaboration. We welcome the participation of all like-minded partners. Over the past decade, the BRI has achieved fruitful results and expanded its network of friends. This fully demonstrates that the BRI is not about creating closed and narrow cliques but goes beyond the outdated mindset of geopolitical competition. It has pioneered a new paradigm for international cooperation and has truly become a "development belt" and a "road to happiness" that benefits people in all countries. On Sept. 26, the Chinese government released a white paper titled "A Global Community of Shared Future: China's Proposals and Actions." The BRI is a significant practice and successful endeavor in building a community with a shared future for mankind, together with the international community.

Thank you.

ThePaper.cn:

International economic cooperation corridors are among the important carriers of BRI cooperation. How has the development of major international economic cooperation corridors been? What progress has been made in building the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC)? Thank you.

Cong Liang:

Thank you for your questions. I just introduced the vision of developing six major international economic cooperation corridors. This year marks the 10th anniversary of the CPEC. I will give an overview of its development over the past decade.

Through joint efforts and close coordination between China and Pakistan, the "1+4" cooperation structure proposed by President Xi Jinping, with the Economic Corridor at the center and the Gwadar Port, energy, infrastructure, and industrial cooperation being the four key areas, has evolved from an inspiring blueprint into reality. On the one hand, the foundation for achieving further development has been consolidated. The Gwadar Port, as the CPEC's flagship project, has become fully functional, with the work of attracting investment in the start-up area of its Free Zone basically completed, and support facilities constantly improved. Fourteen energy projects with an installed capacity of approximately 8.02 million kilowatts have entered commercial operation, serving as CPEC's source of power. An increasingly improved comprehensive and multi-dimensional transport connectivity network has become the CPEC's transport arteries. Several signature projects, including the Karakoram Highway Phase II and the Lahore Orange Line Metro, have been built and opened to traffic. We have also promoted industrial cooperation under the CPEC in an orderly manner. The Framework Agreement on Industrial Cooperation under the CPEC has been signed. Good progress has been made to attract investment in the Rashakai Special Economic Zone after it was launched as a priority under the CPEC. On the other hand, our cooperation has been continuously expanded to new areas. Exchanges and cooperation in agriculture and science and technology have been continuously deepening. Cooperation in the information technology sector is also booming. The two countries also help each other with sincerity in areas that are important to people's lives and are further strengthening international coordination and security cooperation so as to enrich the content of CPEC cooperation.

The achievements under CPEC are the epitome of the overall development of the six major international economic cooperation corridors in the past decade. From this new starting point, aiming to achieve high standards, sustainability, and improve people's lives, we will continue to bolster the quality and efficiency of developing the six corridor economies and further unlock their potential for development, making them a demonstration project of the high-quality BRI cooperation. Thank you.

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