Chinese President Xi Jinping's keynote speech at the Boao Forum for Asia (BFA) on Tuesday annual conference once again manifested the golden principles of the Belt and Road Initiative.
Highlighting the significance of BRI in this year's theme of BFA demonstrates China's willingness to use the cooperative initiative to identify the opportunities and challenges when strengthening international cooperation. Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 epidemic, BRI has not come to a pause but has broken through barriers imposed by the pandemic. It shows Asian countries' determination to enhance international cooperation for common development, driven by the consensus on the merits of consultation, contributions and shared benefits, the key principles of building BRI.
Looking back on President Xi's speeches at BFA since the 18th CPC National Congress in 2012, he always referred to the BRI with special emphasis in order to show China's willingness to promote regional cooperation and common prosperity in Asia.
In 2013, Xi said that "China will increase connectivity with its neighbors, actively explore the building of a regional financing platform, advance economic integration within the region and increase its competitiveness". Later the same year, President Xi proposed the building of the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road -- the Belt and Road Initiative for short.
When meeting with the BFA Board of Directors in 2014, Xi pointed out that the initiative aims at jointly forging a new pattern in regional economic integration along the route.
In 2015, President Xi emphasized that BRI "will be a real chorus comprising all countries along the routes, not a solo for China itself", and said that "more than 60 countries in relevant regions have shown their interest in joining the initiative".
In 2018, President Xi said that the initiative may be China's idea, but its opportunities and outcomes are going to benefit the world while over 80 countries and international organizations signing cooperation agreements with China.
The Belt and Road cooperation has become an international public good of the largest scale in the world. This year, Xi noted once again in Boao that "BRI is a public road open to all, not a private path owned by one single party... Belt and Road cooperation pursues development, aims at mutual benefits, and conveys a message of hope".
Looking ahead, the BFA shoulders the responsibility of promoting global governance, consolidating mutual trust, and coping with the change in the times. In his latest BFA speech, Xi put forward building partnerships with all parties for health cooperation, connectivity, green development, and openness and inclusiveness, which will help further deepen cooperation among the Belt and Road countries in all fields.
(The author is assistant research fellow at the Xi Jinping Thought on Diplomacy Studies Center. )