Initiative proves worth as welcome public good

China Daily editorial

Convening nearly 40 foreign leaders and representatives frommore than 150 countries， the Second Belt and Road Forumfor International Cooperation， which opens in Beijing on April25， testifies to a growing aspiration for collaboration anud risingunilateralism and protectionism.

The conspicuous increase in the size of foreign participationcompared with the inaugural forum two years ago corroboratesUnited Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres' earliercomment that the Belt and Road Initiative， like the UN MillenniumDevelopment Goals， is a public good for the entire world.

Since President Xi Jinping proposed the Silk Road EconomicBelt and 21st Century Maritime Silk Road in 2013， some peoplehave tried to persistently frame them as geopolitical tools. Whilesuch a label and subsequent fear mongering have stirred up worriesin the ill-informed， they can't hoodwink those with insight.

Some facts may be twisted and distorted to sensationalproportions. But nothing can obliterate the tangible benefits thedevelopment initiative has brought. In less than six years， the nascentBelt and Road are already changing development landscapes inmultiple places and dimensions. Thanks to the initiative， East Africahas seen its first expressway， the Maldives its first cross-sea bridge，Belarus its own car-manufacturing enterprise， and landlockedKazakhstan finally has access to the sea.

And while China-Cambodia trade may not look to be in perfectbalance at this point， Belt and Road cooperation between the twoneighbors is laying a solid foundation for the latter's future progress.Take the Sihanoukville Special Economic Zone for instance. Anexemplary project under the framework of the Belt and RoadInitiative， it is expected to host 300 enterprises， create 100，000industrial jobs， and serve as a resident-friendly new communityhousing 200，000 people.

As President Xi has said， the initiative originated from China， butit belongs to the world. China has put forward the idea of boostingglobal development via infrastructure connectivity， and is workingzealously to translate it into reality. This is based on what the countrylearned from its own rags-to-riches story， its own experience ofthe benefits of free trade and intemational cooperation， and on itsunderstanding of the role a responsible major country must play.

The forum's growing list of distinguished guests is credibletestimony that more and more countries appreciate the initiative'swin-win nature and long-term potential. With 126 countries and29 international organizations signing cooperation agreementswith China under the Belt and Road framework， and the AsianInfrastructure Investment Bank now boasting 97 members，it is moreappropriate to call the initiative a global development mechanismthan a Chinese one.