• Home
• /
• Supplements

BRI: Linking Prosperity

A great undertaking that benefits people of all participating countries

In Pakistan, the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor is well underway, and the electricity projects under the framework have lighted up numerous local families. In Uzbekistan, the Kamchiq Tunnel along the Angren–Pap railway built with Chinese technologies, has put an end to the history when Uzbeks had to make a detour via another country for domestic transportation.

In the Horn of Africa, the China-built Addis Ababa–Djibouti railway has given landlocked Ethiopia a faster access to the sea, bringing more businesses to and creating more jobs for the African country.

The past nine years prove that the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is a great undertaking that benefits the people of all participating countries.

On September 7, 2013, Chinese President Xi Jinping proposed building a Silk Road Economic Belt when visiting Kazakhstan, and on October 3 the same year, he called for building a 21st-Century Maritime Silk Road in Indonesia.

Over the past nine years, the BRI has achieved tangible and fruitful progress, becoming the world’s broadest-based and largest platform for international cooperation. It has been joined by 149 countries and 32 international organisations, showing strong vitality.

Xi noted at the opening ceremony of the Second Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation: “We need to take a people-centered approach, give priority to poverty alleviation and job creation to see that the joint pursuit of Belt and Road cooperation will deliver true benefits to the people of participating countries and contribute to their social and economic development.”

The BRI raises living standards for people of participating countries. Over the past nine years, livelihood projects under the BRI have brought clean drinking water, safe electricity, stable jobs and a happy life to more and more people in participating countries. As long as Belt and Road countries continue their efforts, the BRI will be able to lift more people out of poverty and make global development more balanced.

When the China-Maldives Friendship Bridge opened to traffic, the local people said the bridge has brought them an opportunity to create a better future; when the China-constructed Peljesac Bridge was put into use in Croatia, Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic said it was a day of historic significance for his country and the bridge is a centuries-old dream coming true for his country; the China-Europe freight trains have planned 82 routes that connect 200 cities in 24 European countries.

Over this period, trade cost for commodities, capital, information and technologies has been significantly reduced for Belt and Road countries, which has effectively promoted the orderly flow of inter-regional resources and optimised resource allocation. The improved connectivity, helping ‘forgotten corners’ around the world to better integrate into the global industrial, supply and value chains, has made win-win results possible.

The BRI vitalises global development. According to a World Bank report, trade will grow from between 2.8 and 9.7 per cent for economies along the Belt and Road and between 1.7 and 6.2 per cent for the world. Increased trade is expected to expand global real income by 0.7 per cent to 2.9 per cent, the report said. If all BRI transport infrastructure projects are carried out, by 2030, the BRI will generate $1.6 trillion of revenues for the world, or 1.3 per cent of global GDP. Up to 90 per cent of the revenues will go to partner countries.