【When the "One Belt, One Road" is in progress】
Authors: Liang Haoguang, Zhang Yaojun ( Executive Director ofChinaModernization Research Center, Chinese Academy ofSciences, Professor ofChina"Belt and Road" Strategy Research Institute, Beijing International Studies University)
The joint construction of the "Belt and Road" is a big stage for the common development of all countries.In September 2021, President Xi Jinping put forward a global development initiative at the 76th United Nations General Assembly, calling for the accelerated implementation of the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the joint construction of a community with a shared future for global development.In November 2021, General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized at the third "Belt and Road" construction symposium that it is necessary to completely, accurately and fully implement the new development concept, with the goal of high standards, sustainability, and people's livelihood, and consolidate connectivity and cooperation. On the basis of the foundation, expand new space for international cooperation, strengthen the risk prevention and control network, strive to achieve a higher level of cooperation, higher investment efficiency, higher supply quality, and higher development resilience, and promote the joint construction of the “Belt and Road” high-quality development to continuously achieve new achievements. effectiveness.The initiatives and speeches provide fundamental guidelines for advancing the joint construction of the "Belt and Road" under the new situation to get out of the haze of the new crown pneumonia epidemic and achieve high-quality common development, and become a stable force for the construction of the world economy.
Peaceful development is a necessary prerequisite for world economic recovery.
Unbalanced global development has a long history, and the COVID-19 pandemic has further exacerbated this imbalance.According to a report released by the United Nations recently, the time limit for the world's poorest countries to achieve the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals may be delayed by another 10 years.Since the outbreak of the epidemic, the joint construction of the "Belt and Road" has moved forward against the trend, continuously creating opportunities and providing impetus for the common development of all countries in deepening policy communication, accelerating facility connectivity, promoting unimpeded trade, promoting financial integration, and enhancing people-to-people bonds.At present, China has signed more than 200 cooperation documents on the joint construction of the "Belt and Road" with 147 countries and 32 international organizations, and signed third-party market cooperation documents with 14 countries including Japan, Italy and Switzerland.From 2013 to 2021, the cumulative trade volume of goods between China and its "Belt and Road" partners has reached 10.4 trillion US dollars, and the cumulative non-financial direct investment of Chinese enterprises in partner countries has exceeded 130 billion US dollars.In 2021, the trade volume of goods between China and the countries along the "Belt and Road" will reach 11.6 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 23.6%, a new high in eight years, accounting for 29.7% of China's total foreign trade.In 2021, China's direct investment in countries along the route will be 138.45 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 7.9%, accounting for 14.8% of the total foreign investment; the direct investment in China by enterprises along the route will exceed US$10 billion for the first time, reaching US$11.25 billion.
In response to the fundamental development needs of the joint construction of the country, the joint construction of the "Belt and Road" attaches great importance to the possible harm caused by non-traditional security threats such as infectious diseases, environmental pollution, climate change and food security to sustainable human development and peace and security, so that more concrete , The heavy development achievements have benefited the common people of the joint construction of the country.According to a survey by McKinsey & Company, more than 1,000 Chinese companies in 8 African countries alone provide at least 300,000 jobs in Africa.
Poverty reduction and development is the main line of the world economy.
Humanity is suffering the most severe economic recession since the end of World War II. For the first time in history, major economic sectors have been hit hard at the same time, and global poverty reduction results have been severely impacted.Due to the fragility of their own development and the lack of means to deal with the epidemic, many developing countries under the joint construction of the “Belt and Road” have been hit even more severely, and the development gap between the North and the South faces the risk of widening or even solidifying.According to data released by various United Nations agencies, the epidemic has so far caused the loss of 250 million full-time jobs around the world, at least 120 million people have fallen into extreme poverty (the world’s first such a sharp increase in 20 years), and 5.2 million children have become "new crown orphans" due to the loss of their loved ones. , at least 155 million people are severely food insecure, and the Human Development Index has declined for the first time in 30 years.
As an international cooperation platform oriented to common development, the Belt and Road Initiative is committed to improving the global development model and global development governance, paying attention to the poverty reduction needs of developing countries, and focusing on stimulating the endogenous development momentum of relevant countries.China launched the "East Asia Poverty Reduction Cooperation Initiative", based on the Chinese experience of "whole village promotion" and "targeted poverty alleviation", to implement poverty reduction cooperation projects in Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and other countries to help better achieve poverty reduction and development.According to a World Bank research report, by 2030, the joint construction of the "Belt and Road" is expected to help 7.6 million people around the world escape from extreme poverty and 32 million people from moderate poverty.Over the years, China has also provided various forms of assistance to more than 160 countries and international organizations in Asia, Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, Oceania and Europe through the establishment of the South-South Cooperation Assistance Fund and the China-United Nations Peace and Development Fund. , to reduce or cancel the debts of relevant countries, and contribute to building a community with a shared future for mankind without poverty and common development.
Open development is the path for the realization of the world economy.Opening up is the only way for development and progress, and it is also the key to promoting post-pandemic economic recovery.The "Belt and Road" integrates China's opening-up development with the world's interconnected development. By looking for the convergence of interests of all parties and the greatest common divisor of development, it will increase the promotion of global connectivity.The United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development is a programmatic document guiding global development cooperation, which is highly consistent with the concept of jointly building the "Belt and Road".On the one hand, the joint construction of the "Belt and Road" places the development agenda at a more important position in international cooperation, and promotes synergies in multilateral development cooperation.On the other hand, China's international development cooperation will continue to be tilted towards countries jointly building the "Belt and Road", providing stronger impetus, greater space and better paths for the construction of the "Belt and Road".
During the epidemic, China signed the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement with relevant countries and entered into force, completed the negotiations on the China-EU Investment Agreement with the EU as scheduled, and clearly proposed to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement.In the face of artificially "building walls" and "decoupling" and other behaviors that violate economic and market rules, jointly build the "Belt and Road" to promote trade and investment liberalization and facilitation, deepen regional economic integration, and consolidate supply chains, industrial chains, and data chains. , talent chain, and build an open world economy.Since 2020, more than 40 major "Belt and Road" projects, such as the China-Laos Railway, the Hungary-Serbia Railway, and the Israel Light Rail, have made breakthroughs.In December 2021, witnessed by the heads of state of China and Laos, the entire China-Laos railway line was officially put into operation, shortening the journey from Vientiane, Laos to the China-Laos border from 2 days to 3 hours.In 2021, the China-Europe freight train will operate 15,000 trains and transport 1.46 million TEUs, a year-on-year increase of 22% and 29% respectively, reaching 180 cities in 23 European countries.In March 2022, China's National Development and Reform Commission, China Development Bank and the United Nations Development Programme jointly signed a letter of intent for cooperation in innovative development platforms, promoting global open development through full-process project consulting support, partnership platform building, and training and capacity building.
Innovation and development are the driving force for leading the world economy.
In recent years, global technological innovation has entered an unprecedented period of intense activity.The new generation of information technology has played a huge role in the fight against the new crown pneumonia epidemic, and also provided a new development opportunity for the joint construction of the "Belt and Road".
At the two Belt and Road Forums for International Cooperation, President Xi Jinping emphasized the joint construction of the 21st Century Digital Silk Road, giving the Belt and Road a more profound connotation of innovation and development.At present, the construction of e-commerce, digital economy and digital infrastructure in many developing countries under the Belt and Road Initiative is still in its infancy. It is necessary to seize the new opportunities brought by digital development to jointly build a digital cooperation pattern and improve digital productivity.China has signed memorandums of understanding on digital economy cooperation with 16 countries along the route, jointly built a Silk Road e-commerce platform with 22 countries, established scientific and technological cooperation relationships with 84 co-constructed countries, and supported 1,118 joint research projects in agriculture, new energy, The construction of 53 joint laboratories in the fields of health and health has been launched, and the "Innovative Silk Road" is promoting the joint construction of the "Belt and Road".
Safe development is the fundamental guarantee for safeguarding the world economy.
The century-old changes and the epidemic of the century are intertwined and superimposed. The governance deficit, trust deficit, development deficit, and peace deficit faced by human society continue to increase. There is still a long way to go to achieve universal security and promote common development.According to the World Economic Forum's 2021 Global Risks Report, the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated global social divisions and geopolitical tensions, exposing the fragility of the global industrial chain and the risks inherent in economic globalization.The Belt and Road Initiative implements multilateralism, maintains the international system with the United Nations at its core, safeguards the international order based on international law, and strives to improve the ability to respond to global crises.
In the specific cooperation process, the joint construction of the "Belt and Road" has always focused on preventing and resolving various risks and challenges that affect the joint construction process, and strives to achieve a benign mutual promotion of high-quality development and high-level security.In the face of the challenges of the epidemic, the joint construction of the "Belt and Road" adheres to the concept of life first, and builds a community of human health and health based on the "Healthy Silk Road".So far, China has provided more than 2 billion doses of COVID-19 vaccines to more than 120 countries and international organizations, and has cooperated with more than 20 countries in the joint production of vaccines.In the face of the fact that about 83% of the African Union population has not received a single dose of the vaccine, China fully supports the UN's goal of vaccinating 70% of the world's population by mid-2022, and will provide another 1 billion doses of vaccine to African countries.The "Belt and Road" initiative coordinates epidemic prevention and production, highlights the accuracy of prevention and control measures, and strives to ensure employment needs, personnel rotation, material supply, and financial support. Major projects have not been suspended due to the epidemic, and the construction of key projects is progressing steadily.
Sustainable development is the goal pursued by the world economy.
Since human beings entered the era of industrial civilization, while creating huge material wealth, it has also accelerated the grabbing of natural resources, breaking the balance of the earth's ecological system, and the deep-seated contradiction between man and nature has become increasingly apparent.China regards ecological civilization construction as a millennium plan for the sustainable development of the Chinese nation, and strives to achieve carbon peaking by 2030 and carbon neutrality by 2060.
In this context, China regards green development partnership as the continuous pursuit of the “Belt and Road”, continuously improves the “Belt and Road” green cooperation framework, strengthens a series of measures such as green infrastructure, green energy, green transportation, and green finance, and initiates the “Belt and Road Initiative”. The "One Belt, One Road" Green Development Partnership Initiative will improve multilateral cooperation platforms such as the "One Belt One Road" Green Development International Alliance and the "One Belt One Road" Green Investment Principles, so that green will become the background color of the "One Belt One Road" joint construction.China also strongly supports the green and low-carbon development of energy in developing countries, promotes information sharing and capacity building for green and low-carbon development, and promises not to build new overseas coal power projects.In the face of unprecedented difficulties in global environmental governance, the green "Belt and Road" promotes the construction of a fair, reasonable, cooperative and win-win global environmental governance system, jointly creates green international public goods, and makes a good ecological environment the support for the sustainable development of the global economy and society.
The joint construction of the "Belt and Road" pursues development, advocates win-win results, and conveys hope.At present, China is based on a new stage of development, implementing new development concepts, and building a new development pattern. The "Belt and Road" partners have provided more market opportunities, investment opportunities and growth opportunities for the world economy.It will provide stronger impetus to promote the sustainable recovery of the world economy and promote the building of a community of shared future for global development.
"Guangming Daily" (12th edition on July 4, 2022)
