General

Currently, the century long changes are accelerating and the characteristics of turbulent changes are becoming more prominent.  

At present, China has signed more than 200 cooperation documents with 152 countries and 32 international organizations to jointly build the "the Belt and Road". Under the impact of the global epidemic, the joint construction of the "the Belt and Road" has shown strong resilience and vitality. According to Chinese customs data, in 2022, China's trade volume with countries along the route increased by 15.6% year-on-year, exports increased by 16.1% year-on-year, and imports increased by 14.9% year-on-year. In the first five months of this year, China and countries along the "the Belt and Road" totaled 5.78 trillion yuan in international trade imports and exports, an increase of 13.2%. Among them, exports increased by 21.6% year-on-year, while imports increased by 2.7% year-on-year. This is commendable in the current situation of insufficient momentum for global economic recovery and weak external demand. China and more and more countries have reached consensus on jointly building the "the Belt and Road", which has also strengthened the confidence in globalization.

Promoting the joint construction of high-quality development of the "the Belt and Road" is an important measure of China's high-level opening up, and will also become an important platform and cooperation opportunity for post epidemic international opening up and cooperation, so as to export more stability and certainty to the turbulent world. To this end, China needs to track the changes in the international situation in a timely manner, handle the contradictions that affect opening up and cooperation, find the direction and path of future cooperation, promote international trade cooperation, and effectively promote the high-quality development of the "the Belt and Road".

One is to handle the relationship between development and security well. In order to ensure the sustainable and safe development of the joint construction of the "the Belt and Road", we must have a strong sense of security, strengthen mechanism construction, enhance political mutual trust, and maintain the core position of international multilateral economic and trade rules. While promoting cooperation in infrastructure and industrial development capacity, we should ensure the stability and security of the "the Belt and Road" economic and trade cooperation through the construction of soft rules and institutional frameworks. While strengthening international trade and economic cooperation, we aim to expand cultural exchanges through mutual learning among civilizations and solidify the social foundation of cooperation. Assist relevant countries in improving their law enforcement security and defense capabilities, support their efforts to independently maintain regional security, and strengthen cybersecurity cooperation.

The second is to handle the relationship between regional cooperation and global multilateral cooperation. The "the Belt and Road" has connected several regional cooperation mechanisms, such as the BRICS, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, ASEAN, China Central Asia, and China Central and Eastern Europe cooperation mechanisms. These regional cooperation mechanisms mainly include practical and flexible high-level meetings, joint statements, working groups, and other open cooperation mechanisms. By consolidating consensus on regional open governance through regional cooperation, accumulating good cooperation practices, and making it easier to achieve breakthroughs in new fields such as digital and green development, we can provide plan materials for the reform of multilateral economic and trade rules.

The third is to handle the relationship between economic benefits, social benefits, and ecological benefits. Infrastructure projects along the "the Belt and Road" tend to have huge investment and long cycle. They are good at long-term benefits. Social benefits outweigh economic benefits. For example, improving large-scale infrastructure for people's livelihood such as water and electricity will greatly improve local economic development conditions and have broad investment prospects. Attention should be paid to improving the viscosity and confidence of local people's participation through tangible economic benefits. In addition, the joint construction of the "the Belt and Road" project should also emphasize green development, implement international obligations on carbon emission reduction, and attach importance to ecological benefits. Only by integrating economic benefits, social benefits and ecological benefits can we promote the stable and sustainable development of the "the Belt and Road".

The fourth is to handle the relationship between domestic development and international trade cooperation well. The high-quality development of the the Belt and Road must have a solid domestic foundation. The quality of domestic development will affect the height and depth of the "the Belt and Road" construction; The theory and practice of domestic reform and opening up and modernization construction will be the source of nourishment for the construction concept and practical exploration of the "the Belt and Road"; The success of the Chinese path to modernization road will surely attract and encourage more developing countries along the line to participate in the joint construction of the "the Belt and Road" and explore innovative cooperation models; The surrounding international environment created by the "the Belt and Road" will also affect China's high-level opening up.

The fifth is to handle the relationship between the government and the market well. The joint construction of the "the Belt and Road" is often led by the state to cooperate with large-scale projects. During this period, it is necessary to attach importance to the participation of enterprises, especially to mobilize the enthusiasm of private enterprises, respect the laws of marketization, and improve the efficiency of resource allocation and utilization. Guide project cooperation with the state, and implement projects led by enterprises to effectively solve local employment, poverty, and economic growth issues.

In the future, domestic China can rely on domestic open ports, transportation channels, manufacturing bases and other node cities, as well as free trade pilot zones (ports) and other innovation highlands, to connect with each other by dots and weave a web by lines, through the construction of the "the Belt and Road" to stimulate the potential of domestic regional development strategies, promote domestic regional linkage, and smooth the domestic and international dual cycle.