Over the past eight years, the joint construction of the "Belt and Road" has achieved a series of important practical results, which have had an important impact on my country's economy and the world economy, and has received positive reviews from relevant international and domestic parties.
General Secretary Xi Jinping fully affirmed the results of the “Belt and Road” construction at the third “Belt and Road” construction seminar, and further pointed out the direction for the high-quality development of the “Belt and Road” joint construction.
The prospect of jointly building the "Belt and Road" is bright
The “Belt and Road” initiative follows the principle of extensive consultation, joint contribution and shared benefits, and gradually transforms ideas, initiatives, and visions into reality. It is not only an important practice platform for my country to participate in global open cooperation, promote global common development and prosperity, and promote the building of a community with a shared future for mankind, but also a scope. The broadest and largest international development cooperation initiative and the most popular international public product.
Participants in the joint construction of the “Belt and Road” have accumulated rich experience in trade and investment, cultivated new economic growth points, and laid a good foundation for future high-quality development.
The State Council Development Research Center’s “Research on the Progress, Challenges and Countermeasures of the High-Quality Development of the “Belt and Road” Joint Construction” focuses on the “five links”, contributions to the economic and social development of the host country, compliance and innovation of international cooperation mechanisms and international rules, etc. my country has evaluated the progress of cooperation with countries along the route and believes that the joint construction of the “Belt and Road” will generally follow and connect with the prevailing international rules in various fields, especially the relevant international rules formulated by the United Nations; the progress is good, and the transition to high-quality development; especially with Southeast Asia , Central Asian countries have high-quality cooperation and broad prospects.
A survey of 57 think tanks, international organizations and multinational companies from Asia, Europe, Africa, Latin America by the Silk Road International Think Tank Network found that respondents generally agreed to promote the high-quality development of the “Belt and Road” initiative to achieve tangible results, especially in terms of facility connectivity and cooperation in host countries. Great progress has been made in areas such as economic contribution, docking and creation of international cooperation mechanisms.
The nearly 20,000 foreign media reports on the “Belt and Road” included in the relevant news report database show that the “Belt and Road” partners generally recognize that the “Belt and Road” projects follow internationally accepted rules.
At the same time, we must also realize that the joint construction of the “Belt and Road” is facing a complex international environment.
The geopolitical situation is severe. A few countries interfere with the “Belt and Road” out of their own geopolitical and strategic considerations; globalization and multilateralism in the post-epidemic era are developing in twists and turns, and the joint construction of the “Belt and Road” as a platform for multilateral open cooperation has received certainty. Impact: Some "Belt and Road" partners are not yet fully prepared for high-quality and high-level participation in the joint construction of the "Belt and Road"; security assurance pressure is high, and traditional security risks and non-traditional security risks have increased at the same time.
Path selection for high-quality development
Looking to the future, my country should refer to useful domestic and international research and suggestions, coordinate infrastructure and manufacturing to "go global" more firmly, pay more attention to decision-making in accordance with market principles, and focus on compliance, inclusiveness and sustainability. , To promote the high-quality development of the “Belt and Road” co-construction, and help build a new development pattern with domestic and international cycles as the mainstay and mutual promotion of domestic and international cycles.
The global public goods attributes of the “Belt and Road Initiative” have become more prominent, and infrastructure interconnection must be continued.
The effective operation of the China-Europe Railway Express is a concentrated expression of the advantages of my country's industrial system and the result of the active interaction of industrial policies, state-owned enterprises and private enterprises.
In 2020 and 2021, the cumulative number of China-Europe freight trains will be more than 10,000, ensuring the smooth operation of the industrial chain supply chain of my country and its partners in the “Belt and Road” initiative, highlighting its importance as a major land channel connecting Eurasia Role.
It is necessary to sum up and draw on the existing experience of China-Europe Express, improve the “four in one” layout of land, sea, sky, and network, and scientifically deploy the “hard connectivity” of infrastructure.
While building and operating infrastructure, it is necessary to coordinate manufacturing and other related industries to "go global" and share the dividends of the "Belt and Road Initiative".
The investment and operation of infrastructure is beneficial to total demand in the short term, and can increase supply capacity in the medium and long term.
While guarding against investment and operation risks, all types of enterprises should actively study and judge the potential dividends brought by infrastructure investment and operation, and steadily expand and tap market opportunities.
Relevant departments, industry associations and enterprises should strengthen coordination in international investment and trade to expand market opportunities for partners in the “Belt and Road” initiative.
The economic benefits brought by the joint construction of the “Belt and Road” may be uneven. Different types of benefits must be distinguished, decision-making should be based on market principles, and risk prevention and control capabilities should be improved.
At present, under the framework of the joint construction of the “Belt and Road”, the investment and benefits of relevant countries and regions are not yet balanced.
It is necessary to distinguish between long-term interests and short-term interests, strategic interests and commercial interests, and take a comprehensive view of the issue of investment and profit.
Enterprises themselves must pay more attention to making decisions in accordance with market principles, accounting for inputs and benefits, and doing a good job of risk management and response while accounting for investment, so that foreign investment will be more sustainable.
Pay attention to the compliance and inclusiveness of the “Belt and Road” project, and use the project to drive the “soft connectivity” of the rules and standards and jointly build the “heart-to-heart connectivity” of the people of the country.
On the one hand, from the perspective of avoiding risks and improving risk prevention and control capabilities, companies should focus on international economic and trade rules and compliance operations, and relevant departments should continue to improve and improve my country’s own compliance system to create better external conditions for companies to avoid risks. , To promote the "soft connection" of our country's rules and standards in the international arena.
On the other hand, all types of enterprises must also pay more attention to the inclusiveness of development, and use productive investment that can drive employment and improve people’s livelihood as a starting point, so that more countries and regions and people can benefit from it, and promote the building of a nation’s people’s “heart-to-heart connection”. "Only in this way can the economic globalization driven by the joint construction of the "Belt and Road" be more inclusive, win-win and sustainable.
What needs to be emphasized is that as far as international rules are concerned, Chinese enterprises must actively connect and follow internationally accepted rules, and make necessary improvements and innovations in international rules and standards in related fields.
In areas where the international community has formed a clear consensus on green development and transparency, Chinese companies should follow existing international rules as the main; Promote the continuous improvement of international rules; for international rules in emerging fields such as third-party market cooperation, Chinese companies must work hard to lead innovation.
Strengthen exchanges and cooperation to gather positive energy for the joint construction of the "Belt and Road".
The joint construction of the “Belt and Road” has promoted the growth of the world economy and brought tangible changes and benefits to many countries and regions in the world. Therefore, it is recognized by important institutions and personnel such as the World Bank, and will surely get more and more The more professional institutions and people of insight have an objective evaluation.
Under the current situation, we need to strengthen exchanges and cooperation with international professional research institutions, use their platform to tell the story of the joint construction of the "Belt and Road", continue to gather positive energy, and create a good international environment for the high-quality development of the "Belt and Road". .
Specifically, my country should further leverage on the role of international think tank alliances such as the Silk Road International Think Tank Network, the "Belt and Road" Think Tank Cooperation Alliance, and the "Belt and Road" International Think Tank Cooperation Committee to promote information openness, joint research, knowledge sharing, exchanges and seminars, and international Spread and promote international recognition.
In particular, it is necessary to proactively set up issues, mobilize the "Belt and Road" partner governments, enterprises, industry associations, think tanks and other participants to use cases and data to objectively and rationally introduce the sustainability and transparency of financing that are of high concern to the international community. To improve the effectiveness and pertinence of international communication.
(Source of this article: Economic Daily, Authors: Zhou Jianjun, Research Center of State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council; Zhang Youyi, Development Research Center of the State Council)