Rocco Lacorte/Li Kaixuan (Trans.): The "Belt and Road" Is a New Engine for World Development
The Silk Road represents a significant step for ancient China toward the world, through which Chinese civilization and global civilizations became interconnected, forming a long and continuous history. This corridor has witnessed thousands of years of sustained trade and cultural exchange across the Eurasian continent. In the New Era, China has inherited and carried forward the "Silk Road Spirit" [1], creatively proposing the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) based on the principles of "extensive consultation, joint contribution, and shared benefits." This unprecedented and massive cooperation plan is built upon the principles of genuine multilateralism. It fully respects the sovereign security, development interests, and cultural traditions of all nations, promoting the integration and cooperation of different countries and regions across multiple fields, including economy, culture, science, and technology.
The Belt and Road Initiative creates a more inclusive globalization. In recent years, a wave of anti-globalization has risen in the West, characterized by the intentional creation of incidents and the setting up of barriers in an attempt to obstruct exchanges between East and West in key scientific and technological fields. This Western attitude reflects their self-righteous perception that "socialist China is rising, while the influence of unipolarism on the world is weakening." Some Western observers still harbor the prejudice that "a strong country must seek hegemony" [2]. However, the BRI stands in direct contrast to these arguments insisting on a "China threat." The BRI is inherently characterized by a distinct inclusiveness; the worldview it contains pursues harmonious coexistence and interdependence among the people of the world, with the ultimate goal of working with the people of all nations to build a community with a shared future for humanity. Regardless of how the West sensationalizes the "China threat," China consistently demonstrates to the world its steadfast position of maintaining peace, adhering to openness, pursuing coordinated development, and sharing prosperity. China's development can inject strong momentum into global prosperity; conversely, the peace and development of other countries can create a better external environment for China’s own development. The tide of world development is unstoppable; China’s BRI is an appointment with the times, a path to win-win cooperation, a promise from China, and, moreover, the inevitable trend of globalization.
The BRI empowers the long-term development of developing countries. Once proposed, the initiative received a warm welcome and active response from the vast number of developing countries. These nations have also become the greatest beneficiaries under the BRI framework. For example, with the help of Chinese experts and nearly 20,000 technical workers, the people of Laos have successfully built modern hospitals, schools, and power plants, and constructed the China-Laos Railway, which stretches for thousands of miles across mountains and great rivers. This friendship railway, running over 1,000 kilometers from Kunming in China's Yunnan Province to Vientiane, the capital of Laos, passes over 301 bridges and through 167 tunnels. With a design speed of 160 kilometers per hour, it was completed and opened to traffic in December 2021. This railway has enabled Laos to stride into the "high-speed rail era," transforming it from a "land-locked country into a land-linked country" [3], and continuously accelerating economic development in regions along the line. It is particularly noteworthy that during the construction of the China-Laos Railway, the Chinese technical team paid special attention to environmental protection, reasonably avoiding potential negative impacts on local residents and the ecology at every stage of the design process. Ultimately, this made the China-Laos high-speed rail a "brand project" and, more importantly, a "people's heart project" [4]. Laos has not only acquired modern infrastructure but has also learned advanced Chinese technology and experience.
The BRI helps developing countries resolve financing difficulties. According to relevant reports, the global demand for infrastructure investment has reached 94 trillion US dollars. If the current trend continues, developing countries will fall into a dead loop: "without money, construction cannot be carried out; without infrastructure, development opportunities cannot be obtained." To help developing countries secure the necessary funds for the initial stages of development, China took the lead in establishing the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) to promote international financial cooperation through a multilateral system and develop more adaptive, flexible, and diverse financing solutions. The AIIB, along with the BRICS New Development Bank and the Silk Road Fund, has already become a main channel for international investment and financing. In 2018, the China Silk Road Fund and the European Investment Bank jointly established the China-EU Common Fund, further improving the systematic construction of BRI international financial cooperation. Benefiting from this, various key projects along the Belt and Road have been able to proceed smoothly, such as the Anaklia Deep Sea Port and the local Special Economic Zone jointly funded by China and Georgia. It is estimated that by 2025, the cargo throughput capacity of this port is expected to exceed 100 million tons, which will strongly stimulate local economic development.
The BRI has found a path for poverty reduction and alleviation for countries along its route. Research by the World Bank shows that BRI-related investments could help more than 34 million people escape moderate poverty, of whom 29.4 million live in countries and regions along the routes. Driven by the BRI, foreign economic and trade cooperation among countries along the route has continued to grow, and the scale of Chinese investment has increased year by year, employing hundreds of thousands of local workers. With the support of Chinese capital and technology, the industrial structures of these countries have become more complete, their advantageous production capacities have been realized, and "poverty alleviation through industry" is no longer an empty phrase for local people. Meanwhile, "Digital Silk Road" cooperation is also bearing fruit in countries along the route, with digital trade—centered on e-commerce—experiencing vigorous development.
Beyond its outstanding contribution to fighting poverty, during the critical moments when the COVID-19 pandemic raged globally, the Chinese government closely coordinated epidemic prevention mechanisms and shared information with countries along the Belt and Road. It provided medical supplies and technical equipment to many countries and dispatched multiple medical teams to support epidemic prevention work, helping these nations meet the challenges of the pandemic. All of this has allowed more countries to see that viruses know no borders and pandemics do not distinguish between races; humanity is a community with a shared future that shares weal and woe.
The Belt and Road Initiative is undoubtedly a model for South-South cooperation. China is a positive force promoting the economic and social development of the vast number of developing countries, especially African nations. China-Africa cooperation contributes Chinese wisdom and experience to local development, helping African countries achieve genuine self-reliance and independence. As the economic benefits brought by the BRI continue to manifest, it will attract more and more developing countries to integrate into it, and the map of cooperation will continue to expand. Regardless of how the West attempts to erase China’s positive contribution to world development, the BRI is undoubtedly a high-profile model of South-South cooperation.