Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Tuesday called for deepening cooperation under the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) to boost an early recovery of the world economy.
Wang made the remarks during the opening ceremony of the fifth Silk Road International Exposition and the Investment and Trade Forum for Cooperation between East and West China via video link in Xi'an, capital of northwest China's Shaanxi Province.
Noting that the BRI is on the fast track of high quality development, Wang said China has signed BRI cooperation documents with 140 countries and 31 international organizations and carried out a large number of practical cooperation projects.
In the face of COVID-19, China and its BRI partners, including Central Asian countries, have been standing together amid difficulties, Wang said, adding that the construction of the BRI has made a series of hard-won new progress and achievements despite the challenges.
Wang said the BRI cooperation is becoming a model for health, recovery and growth that protects people's safety and well-being, restores economic and social activities and unlocks development potentials.
He voiced the necessity for BRI partners to continuously work together to deepen the BRI cooperation to promote the early recovery and growth of the world economy.
The Chinese foreign minister envisioned the development of a community of shared future for mankind through quality collaboration under BRI and put forward four proposals.
He called for tackling COVID-19 head-on and deepening public health cooperation.
"The BRI partners should strengthen solidarity, carry out information sharing and joint prevention and control, and strengthen international cooperation in vaccine research, development, production and distribution, contributing to vaccine accessibility and affordability in developing countries."
Wang also told BRI partners to focus on connectivity and solidify the foundation for higher-level interconnected development.
The BRI partners should accelerate the improvement of the "fast track" and "green channel" for the movement of people and goods, he said.
While promoting "hard connectivity" of infrastructure, it is equally important to strengthen "soft connectivity" of policies, rules, standards and institutions among countries, Wang stressed.
He vowed to promote mutually beneficial cooperation to build the BRI as a higher quality economic and trade cooperation platform.
"BRI partners should work together to firmly uphold the multilateral trading system, promote the construction of free trade zones and build an open world economy."
He also urged BRI partners to focus on green development to create a model project of sustainable development.
"We should seek a harmonious coexistence of man and nature, strengthen cooperation in green infrastructure, green energy, green finance and other areas, create more practical cooperation results, and make more contributions to the realization of sustainable development," Wang added.
He stressed this year marks the launch of China's 14th Five-Year Plan and China is embarking on a new journey toward fully building a modern socialist country.
"China will speed up the construction of a new development paradigm with domestic circulation as the mainstay and domestic and international circulations reinforcing each other, providing stronger power, more space and better paths for the joint construction of the BRI," Wang said.
Chinese market's potential will be further released to create more demand and bring more opportunities for the world, he added.
