At an international symposium held in Beijing in mid-August, scholars and foreign politicians reviewed remarkable results achieved over the past decade since the inception of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and underlined win-win cooperation for its brighter future. The International Symposium on “The 10th Anniversary of Belt and Road Initiative: Progress and Prospects” was co-hosted by Renmin University of China (RUC), the Chinese People’s Institute of Foreign Affairs, the Foreign Languages Press (FLP), and the Nizami Ganjavi International Center.

Progress

Considerably inclusive and open, the BRI has been engaging a growing number of countries over the past 10 years. A prime illustration of this is the China-Europe freight rail network. By the end of June 2023, the cumulative operation of the trains exceeded 73,000 services, reaching 216 cities in 25 European countries. Moreover, the BRI has established a solid foundation for interconnectivity and mutually beneficial cooperation through various infrastructure projects, such as the China-Laos Railway and Jakarta-Bandung High-Speed Railway, which serve as pillars within the BRI framework.

Apart from infrastructure interconnectivity, inclusive, open, and equality-based cooperation derived from BRI practices has gradually gained ground. Former Serbian President Boris Tadic said that interconnectivity lies at core of the BRI, which has been understood and accepted by developing countries along with Belt and Road construction.

In essence, interconnectivity means that countries and people can know each other better, Tadic said, adding that numerous notable outcomes generated from these infrastructure projects in the past 10 years have positively influenced many developing countries.

The impact of the BRI on economic cooperation is particularly noteworthy. As of 2022, over 3,000 cooperative projects have been initiated under the BRI, with a total investment of nearly $1 trillion. These projects have been groundbreaking in the countries involved, yielding landmark results.

The BRI has provided a new vision, said Zlatko Lagumdzija, former prime minister of Bosnia-Herzegovina. In his view, the initiative is extraordinarily significant to developing nations in that it has presented them a brand-new model for success.

Pragmatic and highly effective, the model can quickly bring benefits, thus boosting developing countries’ confidence in independently opening up a development path of their own, Lagumdzija added.

Prospects

How can the BRI scale new heights and draw new blueprints in the future? Several foreign politicians stressed win-win cooperation at the symposium. Djoomart Otorbaev, former prime minister of Kyrgyzstan, underscored the high necessity of win-win cooperation, saying that only joint efforts and pragmatic action can lead to real cooperation and forge a bright future for countries along the Belt and Road.

Lagumdzija further emphasized that the win-win cooperation model underlying the BRI is precisely what enables the initiative to bring about positive changes in low- and middle-income countries.

Looking forward, Qi Wei, deputy director-general of the China Center for Contemporary World Studies subordinate to the International Department of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, said that the development of the BRI is driven by an internal impetus. This impetus is natural and arises from the aspirations of people across the Eurasian continent for peace, development, and a better life.

To effectively address the aspirations and highlight the benefits of the BRI to the people and its developmental, inclusive nature within the international community, it is crucial to emphasize the accomplishments and contributions it has made. This serves as a practical approach and a key channel for the world to gain a better understanding of China in the new era.

In alignment with this objective, the Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies at RUC and the FLP jointly launched the book series Ten Years into the Belt and Road Initiative at the symposium, in an effort to share achievements of the BRI in plain language. According to Xu Rong, editor-in-chief of the FLP, the series consists of eight books in nine languages, showcasing to the world the initiative’s progress over the past decade, while truthfully depicting the difficulties and challenges facing Belt and Road construction.