STRATEGIC COORDINATION
China has pushed forward the B&R with solid progress and stepped up policy coordination with the B&R countries, which have responded positively with practical coordination strategies.
The initiative has so far gained the support of over 100 countries and international organizations, and more than 40 of them have signed cooperation agreements with China.
The concept of the economic belt was first proposed by Xi on a visit to Kazakhstan in September 2013. Kazakhstan was the first country with which China started capacity cooperation and strategic coordination.
The two sides have achieved some early results, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang said on his visit to Astana this month, referring to the 51 major cooperation projects worth over 27 billion dollars and more than 1,200 China-Europe freight trains that passed through Kazakhstan.
During Chinese Premier Li Keqiang's visit to Australia in March, the two sides agreed to integrate the B&R initiative and Northern Australia development plan.
Jan Adams, Australia's ambassador to China, has said that the B&R and the Northern Australia development plan are highly complementary on a strategic level, and that the two sides have achieved consensus on aligning the two efforts.
"From Australia's point of view, the Belt and Road initiative is important because it enables our companies to partner with Chinese State-Owned Enterprises more easily and our ability to have Chinese companies involved in Australia is made much easier," said Malcolm Broomhead, chairman of Australian mining services company Orica.
During Li's visit to New Zealand in late March, the two countries signed a memorandum of understanding on the initiative, making New Zealand the first western developed country to participate in the B&R.
The visit has prompted the establishment of organizations supporting the B&R. For example, the Oceania Silk Road Network (OSRN) is being forged by New Zealand business interests, headed by William Zhao, director and CEO of the China-owned Yashili New Zealand Dairy Company.
"There's a group of us exploring setting up this mechanism and it's in an environment where there's a growing interest among organizations focused on China to explore ways that New Zealand can engage more in China's very important initiative," said Martin Thomson, head of New Zealand-China Trade Association and one of the four OSRN initiators.
President of the ruling National Party Peter Goodfellow and National legislator Yang Jian have also announced the launch of the B&R promotion mechanism, a public service platform and network system to boost cooperation with China.
PROMISING PROSPECT
With the imminent B&R Forum for International Cooperation to be held from May 14 to May 15 in Beijing, development of the initiative has stepped into a golden period.
Thus far, 28 heads of state and government leaders have confirmed their attendance at the forum. Other delegates include officials, entrepreneurs, financiers and reporters from 110 countries, and representatives of 61 international organizations.
By hosting the forum, China hopes to discuss cooperation, promote strategic coordination and deepen partnerships in the next stage, so as to advance international cooperation and achieve a win-win result with the development and structural adjustment of Chinese economy and society, according to strategy group of GF Securities.
The B&R will be "the future engine" of globalization, said former World Trade Organization Director-General Pascal Lamy in Jakarta in March.
As many countries around the world are sliding toward protectionism, China "will probably be the stabilizing factor of the global trade," he said.
In 2017, mergers and acquisitions of infrastructure in the B&R region will rebound, while new projects will continue to be released and more green technologies will be applied in infrastructure, Lu Yao predicted.
Electric utility, medical treatment and railway construction are three hot fields with great potential in the next development stage, Lu said.
