'One belt, one road' initiatives key for building a safer Asia: experts

China-led Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road initiatives could help solve security problems in Asia, said experts at an international forum on Wednesday.

Despite many differences and disputes, China and almost all its neighboring countries, put economic development as their foremost goal in their policy agenda, using diplomacy to serve this goal, said Yang Xiyu, senior research fellow of China Institute of International Studies.

By incorporating this common goal, the "One Belt and One Road" initiatives mean that related countries could shelve or even discard their disputes in the political and security fields to cooperate with each other in their pursue of economic development, Yang said.

"Deepening economic cooperation could lay a solid foundation for enhancing political and security cooperation between related nations," he said.

The two-day forum, which concluded on Wednesday, was held in Xi'an, capital city of northwest China's Shaanxi Province, to mark the International Day of Peace.

Xi'an, home to the well-known terracotta warriors, was where the ancient Silk Road started. An older name of the city, Chang'an, means "lasting stability and peace."

"A simultaneous revival of the Silk Road in different forms would mean not only trade. It could also mean that nations with trade are always going to have a better relationship and peace will automatically come about, because it is opportunity cost," said Siddhant Raj Pandey, member of Board of Directors of the Nepal Institute of International and Strategic Studies.

"If, even after thousands of years, the terra cotta soldiers can be unearthed, then I'm hopeful that the 2,000-year-old Silk Road can be revived and its modern version the maritime Silk Road as well can be developed and made more active and vibrant in the future," he said.

The "One Belt and One Road" initiatives were brought up by Chinese President Xi Jinping last year. During his four-country Asia trip earlier this month, Xi proposed to closely knit China's competitive industries with the geographical features and the development needs of Tajikistan, Maldives, Sri Lanka and India, by building the "belt" and the "road."

Different from the ancient Silk Road, which mainly focused on trade, the "One Belt and One Road" could also include the flow of financial elements, information, technology and personnel, Xia Liping, dean of the School of Political Science & International Relations with Tongji University.

Xia believes the construction of the new initiatives would help to boost mutual trust among related countries, which will consequently promote the building of security cooperation across all of Asia.