(Looking at China) The 10th Anniversary of the "the Belt and Road" -- Opening a New Chapter in the Development of China and the World
Author: Ivona Rajvac, Deputy Director of the Serbian Institute of International Political Economy
Compiled by: Wang Tingting
As a major initiative to expand China's opening up, the "the Belt and Road" initiative has opened a new chapter in the development of China and the world.
In the face of complex and volatile international relations and increasing differences in the level of development among countries, China has proposed to jointly build the "the Belt and Road" and strive to assume more responsibilities within the international framework. China is an advocate and practitioner of multilateral cooperation. The "the Belt and Road" initiative is not an invitation to join the "exclusive club", but a new idea to promote cooperation among all countries and civilizations.
The "the Belt and Road" initiative, based on the principle that different civilizations and countries should adhere to the principles of mutual respect, inclusiveness and dialogue regardless of their level of development, has quickly received support from many countries, regions and international organizations. So far, more than 150 countries and more than 30 international organizations, including the United Nations specialized agencies and ASEAN, have participated in the joint construction of the "the Belt and Road" international cooperation. The implementation of the "the Belt and Road" initiative has also promoted the realization of the 2030 sustainable development goal of the United Nations, and the cooperation concept of the initiative has injected more connotation into regional cooperation.
![(Looking at China) The 10th Anniversary of the "the Belt and Road" -- Opening a New Chapter in the Development of China and the World](https://a5qu.com/upload/images/0ae4c0ac887ff5a1e7197f8004c4ec19.jpg)
The "the Belt and Road" initiative has great potential, especially in the five key areas of cooperation, namely, policy communication, facility connectivity, unimpeded trade, financial integration and people to people connectivity. As far as the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development is concerned, infrastructure connectivity is particularly important, because infrastructure projects implemented within the framework of the "the Belt and Road" play a key role in achieving its primary goal - poverty eradication.
If we want to summarize the achievements of the ten years of co building the "the Belt and Road", the following figures are the best reference: in the past ten years, the "the Belt and Road" initiative has driven the investment scale of nearly trillion dollars, forming more than 3000 cooperation projects; In the first half of 2023, the trade volume between China and countries along the "the Belt and Road" will increase to US $964 billion, and the non-financial direct investment of Chinese enterprises in countries along the "the Belt and Road" will reach US $11.57 billion, up 15.4% year on year.