Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Lin Jian hosted the regular press conference on July 18, 2024.

In 2013, President Xi Jinping proposed the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). To build a Silk Road Economic Belt and a Maritime Silk Road was written into the Decision of the Third Plenary Session of the 18th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) that same year. For more than a decade, the high-quality BRI cooperation has been welcomed by the international community both as a public good and a cooperation platform. The spokesperson was asked by a journalist to share the latest progress and achievements of BRI cooperation.

Lin Jian/File Photo (Source: Website of Ministry of Foreign Affairs)

Lin said that from President Xi Jinping’s proposal of the BRI in 2013 to the establishment of the principle of extensive consultation, joint contribution and shared benefits, and from calling for pursuing the BRI as a priority in the report of the 19th CPC National Congress to promoting the high-quality development of the BRI in the report of the 20th CPC National Congress, China has been working with various parties over the past 10 plus years to advance the BRI cooperation. Together with its partners, China has enabled the BRI to thrive and deliver for peoples and countries across the world, making the BRI an internationally welcomed public good and cooperation platform featuring openness, inclusiveness, mutual benefit and win-win cooperation.

Over the past 10 plus years, BRI cooperation has seen numerous highlights, not only generating greater and smooth flows of people and goods, but also delivering a tangible and stronger sense of fulfillment and happiness to the local people. China has signed BRI cooperation documents with more than 150 countries and 30 international organizations. Last year, trade in goods between China and its BRI partner countries increased by 2.8%, reaching RMB 19.5 trillion and accounting for 46.6% of China’s total import and export volume, a record high in both size and share since the BRI was put forward.

“We remain committed to openness and cooperation for a shared future”, Lin said, expressing China’s commitment to work with all parties and support each other in enhancing the “hard connectivity” of infrastructure, upgrading the “soft connectivity” of rules and standards, and deepening the people-to-people bonds through more exchanges and mutual learning. These efforts aim to elevate BRI cooperation toward higher quality for the modernization of all countries, and build a more open, inclusive, and interconnected world for common development.