Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin Photo: mfa.gov.c

The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) has paved the way for common development and prosperity for all countries in the world, demonstrating China's sense of responsibility as a major country, Wang Wenbin, a spokesperson of China's Foreign Ministry, told a press conference on Thursday.

Wang said that development is a timeless theme for humanity. Breaking development bottlenecks, narrowing the North-South gap, and getting rid of development difficulties are pressing challenges for the world. 

Wang's remarks came after China released a white paper on the BRI on Tuesday, in which the word "development" appeared some 200 times, making it the most used key word in the document.

"Amid the new international situation, the world needs the BRI more than ever before, as a failure to cooperate is the greatest risk, a failure to unite is the greatest challenge and a failure to develop is the greatest insecurity," Liang Haiming, dean of the Hainan University Belt and Road Research Institute, told the Global Times on Thursday.

Liang noted that amid the world's weak economic growth due to the pandemic, the high-quality construction of the BRI signals to the world that China continues to uphold the opening-up policy to create a better environment for investors from all over the world and shows that China is actively looking for a way for the world's economic development.

The BRI created a better environment for China's development and makes more contributions to the world's development, Liang said.

Wang said over the past decade, Belt and Road cooperation has focused on connectivity - the lack of which is considered the biggest bottleneck for development. Wang said a large number of landmark projects, such as the China-Laos Railway, the Jakarta-Bandung High-speed Railway, the Budapest-Belgrade Railway and the Piraeus Port, have been put into operation.

The China-Europe Railway Express opened up new corridors for land transport on the Eurasian continent. The Maritime Silk Road shipping network provides service around the world. The connectivity framework of "six corridors, six routes, and multiple countries and ports" has basically taken shape, Wang noted.

New roads, railways and airlines - like blood vessels - have greatly improved transportation, enabling a more efficient trade network and slashing the cost for accessing the global market by Belt and Road partner countries, which has boosted their own development capacity and helped build a path towards a more prosperous future, the spokesperson said.

The BRI has made hope real for people in participating countries who desire common development. The initiative is aligned with the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and synergized with various countries' development strategies. It has led to over 3,000 cooperation projects, including countries' landmarks, livelihood projects, and milestones of cooperation.

The World Bank has estimated that by 2030, BRI-related investments could lift 7.6 million out of extreme poverty and 32 million out of moderate poverty, Wang noted.

"We look forward to reviewing the experience we've gained and planning the future together with our partners at the upcoming Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation. We hope the BRI will serve as wings for the world on a journey towards more peace, growth, cooperation and a better future for all," Wang noted.

Global Times