Source: People’s Daily
From the proposal of the “Belt and Road” initiative by Chinese President Xi Jinping in 2013, to the successful launch of the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation in 2017, the “Belt and Road” construction has been transferred from a concept to real actions, and has changed, step by step, from a vision into reality, producing fruitful results. Over the past four years, more than 100 countries and international organizations worldwide have vigorously supported and participated in the “Belt and Road” construction, and 40-plus of them have signed cooperation agreements with China.
At the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation, attended by some 1,500 Chinese and foreign guests from over 130 countries and 70-plus international organizations, further consensus was reached about cooperation and plans for cooperation jointly discussed, contributing new wisdom and strength to building the “Belt and Road” into a road for peace, prosperity, opening-up, innovation, and civilization. As the new direction and new blueprint is depicted for international cooperation on the “Belt and Road” construction, the discussion about the specific approaches to the goal comes at the right time. To advance the “Belt and Road” construction steadily and in the long term, we must make efforts at four levels, including facilities, institutions, currencies, and philosophies, with specific focuses.
At the level of facilities, we must give play to China’s absolute advantages and comparative advantages in infrastructure, equipment manufacturing and other fields, and develop cross-regional production networks and highly integrated markets based on infrastructure interconnectivity. While China boasts strong production capacity and a huge domestic market, many developing countries along the Belt and Road have rich resources and labor. We must drive forward international cooperation on production capacity through domestic industrial upgrading, so as to extend the industrial chain, detail the division of labor, integrate production factors in different countries and finally, change different countries into a cohesive community for shared interests and development.
At the level of institutions, we must team up with the developing countries along the route, and inherit, improve, consolidate, and innovate in the current international system of rules, through bilateral, trilateral, regional, and multilateral cooperation. To a large extent, the quality and executive efficiency of systems or rules determine the future of the “Belt and Road” construction. The varying institutional environment in the countries along the route and the diverse categories of international agreements provide favorable conditions for the “Belt and Road” construction, and create many obstacles as well. So, we must be geared up to the economic and trade rules in the countries along the route, realize institutional innovation, and make international systems tend to be neutral, which is good for safeguarding the interests of the developing countries along the route, and achieving the common prosperity and development of countries worldwide.
At the level of currencies, we must advance the integration between RMB internationalization and the “Belt and Road” construction. The expansion and improvement of the RMB’s functions in pricing, settlement, and reserves in the regions along the Belt and Road will not only help the countries along the route lower trading costs, avoid foreign exchange risks and improve economic integration, but also promote the diversity of the international currency system and ultimately advance establishment of the new international currency and financial orders that are fairer and more reasonable. Currencies reflect both the power and responsibility of a power. China shall make every effort to develop the RMB into a stable benchmark currency and a public product for mutual benefits.
At the concept level, we must tell a good story about the friendship, collaboration, struggle, and the final change of fates related to the Belt and Road, and make it an important link, to contact and inspire people. We must dispel all kinds of misunderstandings of the international community towards the “Belt and Road” initiative, strengthen the explanation of the philosophies and principles to the outside world, and create a positive and friendly international environment of public opinions and cognition for the “Belt and Road” construction, with the language style and way of thinking suitable for the people in the countries along the route, in a bid to constantly improve the global influence of the Silk Road Spirit with peace and cooperation, openness and inclusiveness, mutual learning, and mutual benefit at the core, and make it a precious treasure in the hall of human spirits.
After the conception and action strategies are defined, the main task for the “Belt and Road” construction is to help enterprises go global. Enterprises must not only go global, but also take the path steadily and achieve win-win results. To create favorable conditions for enterprises to go global, joint efforts and overall coordination among governments, industries, financial institutions, research institutes, semi-official policy implementation agencies and market-oriented service agencies are required, to put in place a diversified yet integrated service system that encourages enterprises to go global.
(The author is the Director of the Institute of World Economics and Politics, CASS)
