In the autumn of 2013, Chinese President Xi Jinping took a western tour to Kazakhstan, where he first introduced the initiative of the Silk Road Economic Belt. During a subsequent visit to Indonesia, he proposed construction of the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road. Intended to improve connectivity across the vast Eurasian continent, the Belt and Road Initiative weaves together dreams of prosperity shared by peoples of different countries as they advance together towards a brighter future.
Loaded with not only cargo but also friendship, goodwill and cooperation, a heavy stream of trains, ships and aircraft have been shuttling across borders to win-win destinations, accelerating consensus building and expanding cooperation between countries along the route while transforming a vision into action that has delivered fruitful results across the globe.
The past five years have witnessed continued expansion of Chinas circle of friends along the Belt and Road, with “connectivity” and “win-win cooperation” becoming trending topics. Today, the Belt and Road Initiative has not only become a universally-embraced international cooperation platform and a popular public product, but also serves as an important workshop to create a community with a shared future for all mankind.