Jointly Building the Belt and Road Initiative Expands New Practices in Global Governance

In his keynote speech at the opening ceremony of the Third Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation, President Xi Jinping pointed out: “The past decade has proven that the joint pursuit of the Belt and Road Initiative stands on the right side of history, conforms to the logic of the times, and follows the right path for humanity.” The Belt and Road Initiative is both a Chinese solution for maintaining an open world economic system and achieving diversified, autonomous, balanced, and sustainable development, and a Chinese proposition for deepening regional cooperation, strengthening exchanges and mutual learning among civilizations, and safeguarding world peace and stability. It embodies the sense of responsibility of China, as the largest developing country and the world’s second-largest economy, in promoting the global governance system toward a more just and reasonable direction. Over the past decade, China and Belt and Road partner countries have jointly built a path of peace, prosperity, openness, green development, innovation, and civilization, actively exploring new models of global governance, expanding new practices in global governance, opening new pathways for humanity to escape the predicament of global governance, and providing new ideas for the reform of global governance.

习近平主席在第三届“一带一路”国际合作高峰论坛开幕式上的主旨演讲中指出：“10年的历程证明，共建‘一带一路’站在了历史正确一边，符合时代进步的逻辑，走的是人间正道。”共建“一带一路”倡议既是维护开放型世界经济体系，实现多元、自主、平衡和可持续发展的中国方案，也是深化区域合作、加强文明交流互鉴、维护世界和平稳定的中国主张，体现了中国作为最大发展中国家和全球第二大经济体，对推动全球治理体系朝着更加公正合理方向发展的责任担当。10年来，中国和“一带一路”共建国家一道建设和平之路、繁荣之路、开放之路、绿色之路、创新之路、文明之路，积极探索全球治理新模式、拓展全球治理新实践，为人类走出全球治理困境开辟新路径，为全球治理改革提供新思路。

Focusing on connectivity to address global governance challenges. In recent years, economic globalization has developed in a tortuous manner, anti-globalization sentiments have repeatedly risen, and global governance has faced severe challenges. China has proposed and steadfastly advanced the Belt and Road Initiative, conforming to the historical trend of economic globalization and the demands of the times for reforming the global governance system, thereby making China’s contribution to addressing global governance challenges. The core of the Belt and Road Initiative is connectivity, that is, promoting the positive and beneficial development of economic globalization through policy coordination, infrastructure connectivity, unimpeded trade, financial integration, and people-to-people bonds. China adheres to the principle of extensive consultation, joint contribution, and shared benefits, focuses on connectivity construction, continuously improves the level of infrastructure connectivity with partner countries, constantly expands economic, trade, and investment cooperation, and persistently deepens people-to-people and cultural exchanges. Through the construction of the Belt and Road, China and partner countries have established a connectivity partnership, providing a practical and effective Chinese solution for unblocking the pain points, blockages, and difficulties in global governance, and for meeting the needs of the era of economic globalization, informatization, and networking.

聚焦互联互通，应对全球治理挑战。近年来，经济全球化曲折发展，逆全球化思潮不断抬头，全球治理面临严峻挑战。中国提出并坚定推进共建“一带一路”倡议，顺应经济全球化的历史潮流，顺应全球治理体系变革的时代要求，为应对全球治理挑战作出中国贡献。共建“一带一路”的核心是互联互通，即通过政策沟通、设施联通、贸易畅通、资金融通、民心相通来促进经济全球化向好向善发展。中国坚持共商共建共享原则，聚焦互联互通建设，不断提升与共建国家间基础设施互联互通水平，不断拓展经贸投资合作，持续深化人文交流。通过“一带一路”建设，中国与共建国家构建起互联互通伙伴关系，为打通全球治理中的痛点堵点难点，为顺应经济全球化、信息化、网络化的时代需求，提供了切实有效的中国方案。

Emphasizing institutional opening-up to improve global economic governance. Institutional opening-up is an effective institutional pathway for China to participate in global economic governance. Through opening up in areas such as rules, regulations, management, and standards, while promoting the alignment of domestic institutions with internationally accepted rules, China actively participates in the formulation and improvement of international economic institutions and rules, striving to enhance its own institutional discourse power. The decade of jointly building the Belt and Road has been precisely the decade in which China has deeply integrated into the global economy and actively participated in the reform of global economic governance. China has not only gradually achieved alignment with international rules but has also, on the premise of equality, respect, mutual benefit, and reciprocity, worked with more countries to construct and improve regional and global multilateral rules and regulations. Together with partner countries, China has jointly promoted the reform of existing global economic governance institutions, further enhancing the representation and voice of developing countries. It has actively advocated for and initiated the establishment of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, the New Development Bank of the BRICS countries, and the Silk Road Fund, promoting emerging economies and developing countries to play a greater role in the global financial governance system. Currently, the downward pressure on the world economy is increasing, and global economic governance is becoming more complex. On the path of promoting high-quality joint construction of the Belt and Road, it is even more necessary, under the premise of coordinating openness and security, to proactively align with high-standard international economic and trade rules, steadily expand high-level institutional opening-up, and strive to promote more substantive progress in the reform and construction of the global economic governance system.

重视制度型开放，完善全球经济治理。制度型开放是中国参与全球经济治理的有效制度路径。通过规则、规制、管理、标准等方面的开放，在推动国内制度与国际通行规则相对接的同时，中国积极参与国际经济制度和规则的制定和完善，努力提高自身制度性话语权。共建“一带一路”10年间，正是中国深度融入全球经济、积极参与全球经济治理改革的10年。中国不仅逐步实现与国际规则的对标，而且在平等尊重、互惠互利的前提下，与更多国家一起构建和完善区域性和全球性多边规则和规制。中国和共建国家一道，共同推进对现有全球经济治理制度的改革，进一步增强发展中国家的代表性和发言权。积极倡导并发起组建亚洲基础设施投资银行和金砖国家新开发银行、设立丝路基金等，推动新兴经济体和发展中国家在全球金融治理体系中发挥更大作用。当前，世界经济下行压力增大，全球经济治理更趋复杂。在推动高质量共建“一带一路”的道路上，更加需要在统筹开放与安全的前提下，主动对接国际高标准经贸规则，稳步扩大高水平制度型开放，努力促进全球经济治理体系改革和建设取得更多实质性进展。

Transcending geopolitical game thinking to innovate regional governance. Since the beginning of the 21st century, global geopolitical struggles have intensified, and phenomena such as terrorism and populist politics have emerged one after another, continuously impacting the global order. The integrity of global governance tends toward fragmentation and dispersion under the pressure of extreme nationalism and narrow statism, making the value of regional or area governance more prominent. President Xi Jinping emphasized: “The Belt and Road Initiative adheres to the principle of extensive consultation, joint contribution, and shared benefits, transcends differences in civilizations, cultures, social systems, and stages of development, opens new paths for exchanges between countries, builds a new framework for international cooperation, and gathers the greatest common divisor for the common development of humanity.” The Belt and Road Initiative is not a geopolitical tool but a pragmatic platform for economic cooperation and a linked development initiative based on extensive consultation, joint contribution, and shared benefits. Over the past decade, relevant parties have focused on economic cooperation, with connectivity as the key, mutual benefit and win-win as the goal, and complementary advantages as the opportunity, continuously creating more opportunities for world economic growth and the common development of all countries. They have maintained comprehensive regional openness, not drawing lines based on ideology, not engaging in zero-sum games, and welcoming all willing countries to participate, creating a new model for global regional governance. By reshaping the geo-economy to bridge geopolitical differences, promoting regional political stability and security through regional economic development and cooperation, and vigorously advocating for the construction of a green Silk Road, a healthy Silk Road, and a digital Silk Road, the Belt and Road Initiative further transcends traditional geopolitical game thinking and has become a globally welcomed platform for regional cooperation and governance.

超越地缘博弈思维，创新地区治理。进入21世纪以来，全球地缘政治斗争加剧，恐怖主义、民粹政治等此起彼伏，不断冲击着全球秩序。全球治理的整体性在极端民族主义和狭隘国家主义的压力下趋向分裂和分散，地区或区域治理的价值更加凸显。习近平主席强调：“共建‘一带一路’坚持共商共建共享，跨越不同文明、文化、社会制度、发展阶段差异，开辟了各国交往的新路径，搭建起国际合作的新框架，汇集着人类共同发展的最大公约数。”共建“一带一路”不是地缘政治工具，而是务实的经济合作平台，是共商共建共享的联动发展倡议。10年来，有关各方聚焦经济合作，以互联互通为重点，以互利共赢为目标，以优势互补为契机，持续为世界经济增长和各国共同发展创造更多机遇，并保持区域性全面开放，不以意识形态划界，不搞零和游戏，欢迎有意愿的国家都参与进来，打造了全球性地区治理新典范。共建“一带一路”通过重塑地缘经济来弥合地缘政治分歧，以区域经济发展与合作促进地区政治稳定与安全，大力倡导共建绿色丝绸之路、健康丝绸之路、数字丝绸之路等，进一步超越传统地缘博弈思维，成为广受世界欢迎的全球性地区合作与治理平台。

Oriented towards Global South countries to promote shared global development. The development issue is a fundamental issue in global governance. Global South countries occupy a core position in the global development agenda and are the primary targets of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Global South countries generally face the task of accelerating development and improving people’s livelihoods. Developed countries should help developing countries promote development and narrow the North-South gap. However, for a long time, development assistance from developed countries has often come with political conditions, and development governance measures have been notably lacking in fairness and equality, leading to an imbalance in global development governance. As the world’s largest developing country and a member of the “Global South,” China has always paid close attention to global development issues. During the decade of jointly building the Belt and Road, China has adhered to prioritizing development, actively carried out South-South cooperation, and particularly emphasized that the principles of development cooperation are mutual respect, equality, mutual benefit, inclusiveness, and no attachment of any political conditions. It is committed to capacity building in developing countries, advocates for allowing developing countries to share beneficial development experiences, focuses on selecting and implementing cooperation projects based on the actual national conditions and development levels of partner countries, and actively builds global development partnerships, creating a community of development, a community of shared interests, and a community of shared responsibility. This new concept of cooperative development governance is of great significance for global development cooperation and is highly beneficial for making up for the global development deficit and governance deficit. Currently, China has proposed the Global Development Initiative and is making efforts to promote its implementation and landing. As the Belt and Road Initiative effectively aligns with the Global Development Initiative, China will make greater contributions to solving development problems and promoting the global development cause.

面向全球南方国家，推动全球发展共享。发展问题是全球治理中的基础性问题。全球南方国家在全球发展议程中居于核心位置，是联合国可持续发展目标的主要对象。全球南方国家普遍面临加快发展、改善民生的任务，发达国家应帮助发展中国家推动发展，缩小南北差距。但长期以来，发达国家的发展援助往往附带政治条件，发展治理举措明显有失公正和平等，全球发展治理失衡。作为世界上最大的发展中国家和“全球南方”的一员，中国一直密切关注全球发展问题。共建“一带一路”10年间，中国坚持发展优先，积极开展南南合作，特别强调发展合作的原则是相互尊重、平等互利、普惠包容，不附加任何政治条件，致力于发展中国家能力建设，主张让发展中国家共享有益发展经验，注重从共建国家实际国情和发展水平出发选择和执行合作项目，积极构建全球发展伙伴关系，打造发展共同体、利益共同体和责任共同体。这种合作型发展治理新理念，对全球发展合作具有重要意义，对弥补全球发展赤字和治理赤字大有助益。当前，中国提出全球发展倡议并着力推动倡议落实落地。随着共建“一带一路”倡议与全球发展倡议有效对接，中国将为破解发展难题、推动全球发展事业作出更大贡献。

Online editor: Zhang Fujun

网络编辑：张福军