Muhammad Zamir Assadi
The 3rd Belt and Road Forum (BRF) 2023, hosted by Chinese President Xi Jinping, with the announcement of 8 new principles, has laid down a solid foundation for the future course of development under the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), which is entering new stages of high-quality progress across the globe.
Over the past decade, China has continuously enhanced full cooperation with other developing countries, following a policy of pursuing the greater good and shared interests under the principles of sincerity, real results, friendship, and good faith. This effort aims to work together to deliver win-win outcomes and common development.
This is precisely the significant path to build a new type of international relations and construct a community with a shared future for mankind under the BRI framework, winning the hearts and minds of millions of people in various countries.
China cherishes special feelings for developing countries, primarily rooted in the identity it ascribes to itself. The thought process behind launching the BRI by the Chinese government under the leadership of President Xi was very significant. China has consistently regarded itself as a developing and major country since the reform and opening-up era began. This approach has given birth in the Chinese nation to a sense of the needs of other developing countries.
As a major developing country with responsibilities, China has put forward the beautiful vision of a community with a shared future for mankind. This vision reflects China’s approach to sharing its development gains with other developing countries.
The philosophy of pursuing the greater good and shared interests aims to connect the development of China with that of the vast number of developing countries. It also seeks to align the interests of China with the shared interests of these countries or even the entire world, earning significant global applause.
It embodies selflessness and righteousness in helping other developing countries, the approach to international justice to safeguard world peace and development, and the responsibility and morality in building a community with a shared future for mankind in the new era.
Now, under the BRI, the international community has witnessed that China has bolstered unity and cooperation with other developing countries by actively participating in meeting the development needs of these nations through mutual and meaningful consultation.
Since the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) launch, significant and historic achievements that have captured the global community’s attention have been documented in Belt and Road connectivity. This is evidenced by the construction of a series of first-ever local roads and bridges aimed at unleashing the potential for local economic growth in various countries. These efforts are highly recognized and gaining international acclaim.
The Belt and Road is building connectivity linkages by providing unconditional support to partner countries under the BRI framework in dealing with financial challenges in terms of technology, education, health, environment, agriculture, industrial development, and many more sectors, enhancing the number of countries joining BRI cooperation.
The growing number of countries joining the BRI, extending from the Eurasian continent to Africa and Latin America, shows that China has carried forward the Silk Road spirit of cooperation and peace, inclusiveness and openness, mutual benefit, and mutual learning by exploring the full potential of this initiative.
The BRI, while aiming to promote the contributions of China’s development and opening up as well as to create a peaceful and stable external environment, has benefited the involved countries in terms of development and peace.
In the current moment, amidst numerous challenges in global governance, there is no denying that the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is imbuing the Chinese approach with abundant Chinese wisdom to enhance global governance.
The promotion of policy coordination, connectivity, and infrastructure, coupled with the facilitation of unimpeded trade, financial integration, and closer people-to-people ties in an extensive and “quasi-global” area, undeniably contributes to global peace and development.
In constructing a community with a shared future for mankind, considered the strategic goal and fundamental path of BRI, it has become an imperative part of multilateral cooperation.
The outcomes of BRI cooperation emerging from partner countries signal that China, along with other member countries of this development initiative, has worked harmoniously to tap into sustainable growth potential.
This is achieved by enhancing innovative partnerships for the benefit of people at large, contributing to the high-quality development of the BRI, and building a community with a shared future for humankind.
By facilitating connectivity, the BRI has emerged as a bonding force, laying the path to prosperity, thriving ports, and happy cities jointly built by China and its partners. The infrastructure projects have become roads to poverty reduction, paths to growth, and avenues to common progress and prosperity.
In this first decade of the BRI, when Western countries were unwilling or intentionally unable to help developing countries build infrastructure, it was China that defied hardships and tackled the challenges, prompting some to comment that in African cities, any large building with more than three floors or any road running for more than three kilometers is quite likely to have been built and designed by the Chinese.
After efforts have been made to overcome a series of difficulties and challenges related to technology, capital, and perception, BRI developments have progressed towards a more modern and public-interest-oriented infrastructure system and model.
Looking forward to the future, Belt and Road facilitation for connectivity will shift towards a more modern and public-interest-oriented infrastructure system and model. Such connectivity will bring more profound impacts for the coming generations.
*The author is a media fellow of China International Press Communication Centre.
**The opinions in this article are the author’s own and may not represent the views of The Diplomatic Insight. The organization does not endorse or assume responsibility for the content.
