Chinese President Xi Jinping's recent trip to Kazakhstan, Russia and Belarus has accelerated the integration of China's Belt and Road initiatives with those countries' development strategies, Foreign Minister Wang Yi said.[Special coverage]
It has also further promoted mutual political trust and practical cooperation between China and the three countries, Wang told reporters upon the conclusion of the tour.
JOINTLY BUILDING SILK ROAD ECONOMIC BELT
The Belt and Road initiatives, which refer to the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st-Century Maritime Silk Road international trade and infrastructure projects, were high on Xi's agenda during his trip.
The Belt was first proposed by the Chinese president during a previous visit to Kazakhstan in 2013, Wang said, adding that during a later visit to Indonesia, Xi put forward the Road vision.
He noted that over the past year, China has proved to the whole world that the Belt and Road initiatives are not only a grand, forward-looking blueprint, but also a down-to-earth practice.
The just-concluded tour by the Chinese president, Wang added, has charted the course for integrating the development strategies of countries along the Belt and Road on the basis of mutual consultation, joint construction and sharing, and effectively pushed forward the implementation of their mutually beneficial cooperation projects.
In Moscow, Xi and Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a joint statement on integrating the Belt initiative with Russia's aspiration under the Eurasian Economic Union framework.
They pledged to maintain a continuous and stable economic growth in the region, strengthen regional economic integration, and safeguard peace and stability on the Eurasian landmass.
The joint statement, another major development of the Belt and Road initiatives in Eurasia, is of important and far-reaching significance, Wang said.
In Kazakhstan, Xi and his Kazakh counterpart, Nursultan Nazarbayev, agreed to align the two countries' development strategies in pursuit of common prosperity.
"We are ready to align the Silk Road Economic Belt initiative to Kazakhstan's new economic policy of the Bright Road, so as to achieve common development and prosperity on the basis of equality and reciprocity," Xi said.
