APD REVIEW | The Belt and Road: From China, for the world

APD NEWS

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By APD writer Dr. Wang Peng

The two-day Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation has concluded, with great achievements and expectations from all over the world.

When the forum was in progress, tens of thousands of Chinese engineers and local workers are building miles of roads and railways, drilling hundreds of bridges and tunnels in the countries along the Belt and Road thousands of miles away, from the jungle-covered mountains in Laos to the storming Sahara Desert in North Africa, from boundless stretch of blue water near Gwadar Port to Piraeus at the gate of South Europe.

Many may ask what does the B&R initiative really mean to China and the world?

In one word, the initiative, as China’s blueprint, reboots the wavering globalization currently for both China itself and the world.

The globalization is admittedly a general trend, but not irreversible as some over-optimistic pro-globalization experts preached. In the early 1990s, empirical studies conducted by international historians and economists show that the level of globalization (amongst the western industrial powers) before the First World War has even reached the level as high as in late 20th century.

But even such high level of “globalization” and the mutual interdependence among the great powers cannot prevent the war. Thus any illusions of “sitting back, relax and let time solve the economic-political problems” or ignorance of potential threats to the world economy and peace are dangerous.

People cannot imagine that the largest economy in the world abandoned the TPP and even began to say no to WTO, which are both created and raised by itself.

While other countries under the pressure of rising populism and isolationism started to re-construct barriers of tariff, trade, and immigrants. The historical tragedy 100 years ago may come again.

At this moment, China, a developing country, led by a responsible government with 1.4 billion diligent and brave people, proposed this sound initiative that provides financial, technical, and laboring support for the infrastructure building in an increasing group of developing countries.

It connects different parts of the world in order to achieve the goal of “Five Connections”- connecting the policy, infrastructure, trade, finance and people’s mind, and builds the “community of shared future” among all the B&R members .

So it is safe to say that the Belt and Road Initiative does come from China, but it runs for and contributes to the world.

As a proposal of reciprocal altruism, will B&R initiative help shape China for the future?

Generally speaking, it contributes to the maintenance and enhancement of China’s economic growth by expanding a larger global market that covers more 70 developed and developing countries, establishing a network of co-operators and partners all over the world. And more importantly, bringing Chinese style and institutional designing into the world affairs, which may greatly improve the soft power of China.

Some say, this forum is China’s biggest diplomatic event of the year. This saying is neither appropriate nor accurate.

Considering the wavering globalization and the globally rising populism, isolationism, trade protectionism that mentioned above, the updated Chinese “reform and opening-up” run as the new engine to reboot the world economy and pacify the global-political disturbance. So this carnival not only belongs to China, but also serves all the people in the world.

Four months ago, a great leader, in the Swiss mountain peaks towering above delivered a sound speaking pointing out the way forward for the world economy.

This “Chinese herb” came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of people who had been seared in the flames of long-lasting global economic recession and political decay.

Now the 21st century renaissance of the ancient silk roads come as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of neo-liberalist discourse hegemony and vow a new era of pluralistic developing patterns and harmony in diversity.


Dr. Wang Peng, Research Fellow at Chahar Institute, Lecturer at the China Institute of Fudan University.

(ASIA PACIFIC DAILY)