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‘B&R' forum hailed for contribution

Author  :  Mao Li     Source  :    Chinese Social Sciences Today     2017-05-23

Commenting on the recently concluded Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation, scholars emphasized its importance to global economic governance.

Held from May 14 to 15 in Beijing, the forum gathered more than 1,500 representatives from all over the world, including heads of state and officials from 29 countries.

In his keynote speech, Chinese President Xi Jinping pledged to build the “Belt and Road” (“B&R”) initiative into a mechanism for peace, prosperity, opening up, innovation and connecting different civilizations.

Since it was proposed in 2013, the “B&R” initiative has won the support of more than 100 countries and international organizations, with some content incorporated into major resolutions of the UN General Assembly and Security Council.

The forum will not only take “B&R” construction to a new stage but also have equally far-reaching impacts, such as upholding the openness of the global economic system and rebalancing the world economy, scholars said.

Wang Linggui, deputy executive chairman and secretary-general of the National Institute for Global Strategy under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said the forum has sent the world a strong message of cooperation in consulting, building and sharing.

Conducive to guiding economic globalization to develop in a more open, inclusive, balanced and mutually beneficial direction, it is a new contribution to the international economic governance system, Wang added.

Behind the contribution are responsibilities China has shouldered as the largest developing country and the world’s second-largest economy.

At the forum, an international occasion created by China, the country announced a series of measures that have injected strong impetus into the “B&R” initiative. On May 14, Xi pledged to contribute an additional 100 billion yuan ($14.49 billion) to the Silk Road Fund, started an action plan for scientific and technological innovation concerning the initiative, and set up a liaison office for follow-up activities of the forum.

“China welcomes other countries to enjoy the tailwind of the nation’s growth and proactively create a forum to share development experience with the world,” said Zhao Kejin, a professor of social sciences at Tsinghua University, adding that the move has reflected China’s diplomatic progress and major-country manners.

The“B&R”initiative has rallied much support since it was put forward. The United States, which was on the sidelines, also dispatched a high-level delegation to the forum. The huge appeal and vitality of the initiative is backed up by the substantive “sense of gain” it has brought to the world.

Power shortages have been a persistent problem to Pakistan. Even in big cities like Islamabad and Karachi, more than 10 hours of power outages every day are a common occurrence in the summer. Prolonged power failures mean the scorching weather claim thousands of lives. Nonetheless, the effective implementation of serial energy and electric power projects within the “China-Pakistan Economic Corridor” has solved the pressing need facing the Pakistani people.

In January 2017, the first China-Europe freight train laden with an assortment of goods produced in Yiwu, East China’s Zhejiang Province, arrived in London. From Suzhou to Warsaw, from Zhengzhou to Hamburg, from Nanjing to Moscow and from Changchun to Nuremburg, the freight trains, a symbol of the “B&R” initiative, represent a new bridge for economic and trade contact between Asia and Europe.

On a vast land in Minsk, capital of Belarus, convention centers, warehouses and office building complexes are rising straight from the ground. The industrial park, with a planned area of 91.5 square kilometers, will attract excellent Chinese enterprises to promote the upgrading of local products and create jobs together with Belarusian companies.

In more than 20 countries along the Belt and Road, Chinese enterprises have built 56 economic and trade cooperation zones, generating nearly $1.1 billion in tax revenues and 180,000 jobs for the host nations.

In the last four years, the “Belt and Road” was translated from an idea into action, from a vision into reality.

Chen Yongjun, a professor from the School of Business at Renmin University of China, analyzed the initiative from the perspective of supply and demand. In terms of supply, China can provide superior capacity, mid- to high-end technology and high foreign exchange reserves.

On the demand side, there is an urgent need for countries along the Belt and Road to enhance infrastructure construction. The supply-demand match means the initiative is not empty talk but a mutually beneficial idea with inherent economic logic, Chen said.

“B&R”construction is not an attempt to reinvent the wheel, but rather it aims to achieve strategic connection so that participating countries complement each other’s advantages. From the “Bright Road” initiative of Kazakhstan to the “Middle Corridor” initiative of Turkey, from the “Development Road” initiative of Mongolia to the “Two Corridors, One Economic Circle” initiative of Vietnam, and from the “Northern Powerhouse” initiative of the United Kingdom to the “Amber Road” initiative of Poland, many countries and regions along the routes have linked their development strategies to the “B&R” initiative to maximize common dividends and unite for co-prosperity.

For the future, the “B&R” initiative is opening up new spaces constantly. “The future ‘B&R’ initiative will be more open, inclusive and prosperous,” said Huang Rihan, dean of the Department of International Politics at Huaqiao University in Southeast China’s Fujian Province.

“It will not only advance China’s supply-side structural reform but also bring more benefits to people around the world,” Huang added. terms of development. Russian hopes to join forces with academics from China and other countries to foster a new type of cooperative model in related areas, thereby jointly propelling the development of humanities and social sciences, Kortunov said.

Citing China’s Ming Dynasty envoy Zheng He (1371-1433), who undertook four expeditions to Africa 600 years ago, Crain Soudien, chief executive officer of the South Africa-based Human Sciences Research Council, said that Chinese scholars have inherited the tradition of Zheng, who embarked on his missions not to conquer but to learn and connect on the basis of awe and respect.

The current world is complicated and faces various challenges. Compared with natural sciences, humanities and social sciences have special missions to fulfill, Soudien said, calling on scholars to shoulder the responsibility and make greater contributions to the world hand in hand.

Pham Van Duc, vice-president of the Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences (VASS), emphasized the need for China and Vietnam to enhance academic cooperation and exchanges because the two neighbors have a lot in common.

Duc expressed the hope that VASS and CASS, which established cooperative relations in the 1990s, can strengthen ties to explain what is happening around the world and where the world is going.

John Crowley, chief of the Social and Human Sciences Sector at UNESCO, pointed out that UNESCO and CASS have cooperated and communicated in many ways in the past 40 years, jointly improving human well-bring. Established achievements will be conducive to ushering in a new chapter of bilateral cooperation, he said.

Since it was founded four decades ago, CASS has highly valued international exchange and cooperation. Currently, it has inked more than 160 cooperation agreements and memorandums of understanding with academies of social sciences, think tanks, international organizations and institutions of higher education from more than 100 countries and regions.

Every year, there are more than 1,000 scholarly visits to and from CASS. Many foreign politicians have also come to visit. Annually, it holds dozens of high-level forums and symposiums together with international organizations, foreign academic institutions, think tanks and universities. CASS has become a vital channel for China’s cultural exchange with foreign countries, bringing its important roles of academic and cultural diplomacy into full play. common occurrence in the summer. Prolonged power failures mean the scorching weather claims thousands of lives. Nonetheless, the effective implementation of serial energy and electric power projects within the “China-Pakistan Economic Corridor” has solved the pressing need of the Pakistani people.

In January 2017, the first China-Europe freight train laden with an assortment of goods produced in Yiwu, East China’s Zhejiang Province, arrived in London. From Suzhou to Warsaw, from Zhengzhou to Hamburg, from Nanjing to Moscow and from Changchun to Nuremburg, the trains, a symbol of the “B&R” initiative, represent a new bridge for economic and trade contact between Asia and Europe.

On a vast tract of land in Minsk, capital of Belarus, convention centers, warehouses and office building complexes are rising straight from the ground. The industrial park, with a planned area of 91.5 square kilometers, will attract excellent Chinese enterprises to upgrade local products and create jobs together with Belarusian companies.

In more than 20 countries along the Belt and Road, Chinese enterprises have built 56 economic and trade cooperation zones, generating nearly $1.1 billion in tax revenues and 180,000 jobs for host nations.

In the last four years, the “Belt and Road” was translated from an idea into action, from a vision into reality.

Chen Yongjun, a professor from the School of Business at Renmin University of China, analyzed the initiative from the perspective of supply and demand. In terms of supply, China can provide superior capacity, mid- to high-end technology and high foreign exchange reserves.

On the demand side, there is an urgent need for countries along the Belt and Road to enhance infrastructure construction. The supply-demand match means the initiative is not empty talk but a mutually beneficial idea with inherent economic logic, Chen said.

For the future, the “B&R” initiative is opening up new spaces constantly. “The future ‘B&R’ initiative will be more open, inclusive and prosperous,” said Huang Rihan, dean of the Department of International Politics at Huaqiao University in Southeast China’s Fujian Province.

“It will not only advance China’s supply-side structural reform but also bring more benefits to people around the world,” Huang added.

Editor: Bai Le

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