DURING the recently concluded 3rd Belt and Road Forum, Chinese President Xi Jinping outlined a comprehensive strategic roadmap for the development of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) in the next decade. This roadmap is based on eight action plans and is expected to support high-quality Belt and Road cooperation.
In this regard, building of a multidimensional Belt and Road connectivity network, speeding up of high-quality development of the China-Europe Railway Express, participation in the trans-Caspian international transportation corridor and hosting of the China-Europe Railway Express Cooperation Forum will be started to strengthen further trans-regional connectivity through rails, ports and integrated transport systems in all the member countries of the BRI.
Moreover, China will build a new logistics corridor across the Eurasian continent which will be linked by direct railway and road transportation. Integration of ports, shipping, and trading services under the ‘Silk Road Maritime,’ will accelerate the building of the New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor and the Air Silk Road. Thus intensified trans-regional connectivity will be initiated which will be mutually beneficial for all the member countries of the BRI in the next decade.
China’s support for an open world economy will be peacefully pursued which will increase its total trade in goods and services expected to exceed US$ 32 trillion and US$ 5 trillion respectively in the 2024-2028 period. The establishment of pilot zones for Silk Road e-commerce cooperation and entering into free trade agreements and investment protection treaties with more countries will be initiated in the next decade.
Furthermore, the removal of all restrictions on foreign investment access in the manufacturing sector, along with further advancement in high-standard opening up in cross-border service trade and investment, expansion of market access for digital and other products, and deepening reforms in areas including state-owned enterprises, the digital economy, intellectual property, and government procurement will be introduced, institutionalized, and rigorously implemented in the next ten years. This will significantly enhance the scope, utility, and potential of the BRI in all member countries and the world.
In this connection, financial support for BRI projects on the basis of market and business operation through the China Development Bank and the Export-Import Bank of China will each set up a 350 billion RMB (48.75 billion U.S. dollars) financing window, and an additional 80 billion RMB will be injected into the Silk Road Fund. It will generate projects helping the countries and communities overcome their socioeconomic problems elimination poverty and generate new jobs.
Further promotion of development through extended and deepening cooperation in areas such as green infrastructure, green energy, and green transportation and stepping up support for the BRI International Green Development Coalition will be the mantra of the Chinese policymakers which will be people and environment-friendly and will mitigate the spill-over ramifications of the global warming in the BRI’s member countries.
In this context, regular holding of the BRI Green Innovation Conference, establishing of dialogue and exchange mechanisms for the solar industry and a network of experts on green and low-carbon development will be started creating mutually beneficial propositions for all the member countries.
Hopefully, China’s implementation of the Green Investment Principles for the Belt and Road, and provision of 100,000 training opportunities for partner countries by 2030 will be game changers to achieving the desired goals of greening the BRI in the future.
China’s strong commitment to advancing scientific and technological innovation, the Belt and Road Science, Technology and Innovation Cooperation Action Plan, and the holding of the first Belt and Road Conference on Science and Technology Exchange will facilitate science and technology in the BRI’s member countries.
The Global Initiative for Artificial Intelligence (AI) Governance will increase exchanges and dialogue with other countries and jointly promote sound, orderly, and secure AI development in the world. It will be a giant step towards digitalization and e-commerce removing all barriers of technological backwardness in the BRI’s member countries and will provide an ideal platform for greater socio-economic, industrial, and artificial intelligence transformation in the next decade.
People-to-people exchanges will be further facilitated and strengthened. China will host the Liangzhu Forum to enhance dialogue on civilizations with BRI partner countries. Thus it will increase China’s soft diplomacy in these countries.
The holding of the Silk Road International League of Theatres, the Silk Road International Arts Festival, the International Alliance of Museums of the Silk Road, the Silk Road International Alliance of Art Museums and the Silk Road International Library Alliance, Silk Road Scholarship and the International Tourism Alliance of Silk Road Cities will be a regular feature of the BRI in next ten years.
China pledges to promote integrity-based Belt and Road cooperation and share the Achievements and Prospects of Belt and Road Integrity Building and the High-Level Principles of Belt and Road Integrity Building. It will establish the Integrity and Compliance Evaluation System for Companies Involved in Belt and Road Cooperation, which will promote genuine scientific research and development in these countries.
Last but not least, further strengthening of the institutional building for international Belt and Road cooperation covering energy, taxation, finance, green development, disaster reduction, anti-corruption, think tank, media, culture, and other fields will be the right step in right direction for achieving the optimal levels of close liaison, policy consultation, formation and implementation of the respective national policies of these countries which will further increase financial integration, good governance, fight against looming threat of climate change, formation of Corridor of Knowledge, multiculturalism and meaningful media cooperation in the member countries.
In summary, the new eight action plans of the Chinese President Xi Jinping are the new “Magna Carta” of immense trans-regional connectivity and socio-economic integration. It is the new “Global Constitution” of green development. It is a “new Global Chapter” of economic cooperation and social freedom. It is the new “Das Capital” of a just world, economic equality, economic globalization, and cooperation. It is the new version of “Political Treatise, The Prince” promoting pure multiculturalism and removing all kinds of discrimination. It is indeed a “New Codes of Global Governance” based on Xi’s Global Development, Global Security, Global Civilizational and Global Artificial Intelligence (AI) Governance creating mutually beneficial propositions for all the BRI’s countries and the world alike.
Author: Mehmood ul Hassan Khan
