【Spiritual Genealogy of Chinese Communists】
Guangming Daily reporter Li Zengqi Guangming Daily trainee reporter Wang Yuxinhong
On December 3, 2021, in Vientiane, the capital of Laos, the "Lancang" EMU slowly drove out of Vientiane Station, marking the opening of the China-Laos Railway. Laos President Thong Lun said that thanks to China's strong support, Laos finally bid farewell to the era of no trains and has a modern railway. The Laos-China Railway is the link between Laos' "landlocked country" and "land-linked country" strategy to deeply connect with the "Belt and Road" initiative, and is an important milestone in the construction of Laos's modernization infrastructure, which will greatly promote the economic and social development of Laos.
In the autumn of 2013, President Xi Jinping successively put forward major initiatives for the construction of the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road. Since then, the "Belt and Road" initiative originating from the ancient Silk Road has come into being, and the "Belt and Road" construction has sailed far.
In May 2017, President Xi Jinping pointed out at the first Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation that the ancient Silk Road stretched for thousands of miles and lasted for thousands of years, accumulating the Silk Road spirit with peace and cooperation, openness and inclusiveness, mutual learning and mutual learning, and mutual benefit and win-win results as the core. This is a precious heritage of human civilization.
In the eight years since the "Belt and Road" initiative was proposed, China, together with many countries and major international organizations in the world, has created a "Belt and Road" circle of friends, drawing a big picture and stroke of jointly building the "Belt and Road", shaping the overall pattern of promoting global interconnection, and laying out the first move to cope with the world's unprecedented changes in a century.
A New Chapter in the Silk Road (oil painting) By Feng Lu
A few days ago, Pianoo (left) and friends were photographed with the "Lancang" train at the Vientiane Railway Station in Laos. Xinhua News Agency
1. Peaceful cooperation
Countless brilliant civilizations were born on the ancient Silk Road, but in the past five hundred years, under the international order dominated by Western countries, most of the Silk Road countries and regions have experienced the painful years of being bullied, colonized, and enslaved. After the two world wars, the colonial system gradually collapsed, and the developing countries on the Silk Roads faced the dilemma of how to choose the path of development.
Oranges born in Huainan are oranges, and those born in Huaibei are citrus, and the leaves are similar, but in fact, the taste is different. The development theories and experiences of developed countries in the West have their own special historical conditions and opportunities, and it is difficult for developing countries to succeed in copying them, which has been repeatedly proved by history. When development stagnates, political and social instability is unstable; Many developing countries are caught in a vicious circle, where the road to prosperity that should be flowing with milk and honey is filled with blood and tears.
"The Western development mode, ideological system, and the international pattern dominated by it generally represent the interests of the developed countries in the West, and the developing countries and least developed countries that are latecomers are either willing to sell coolies to this system, or are in war and difficulty." The international community is facing a governance deficit, a trust deficit, a peace deficit and a development deficit, and it is growing unabated. The world is in a state of extreme imbalance, great injustice, and great uncertainty. Chen Wenling, chief economist of the China Center for International Economic Exchanges, told reporters, "Many developing countries originally thought that their fate should be like this, but we say that the most important and positive factor in the great changes that have not occurred in a hundred years is the rise of China, and it is China's success that shows new possibilities." ”
"After 8 years of hard work, the construction of the 'Belt and Road' has formed a first-mover advantage and formed a huge stock of assets." Chen Wenling said that these stock assets are both tangible and intangible, and the most important role is to empower the ancient Silk Road, make it an activation of the world economy, and arouse the internal impulse of developing countries and least developed countries to seek development, seek happiness and get rid of poverty.
Over the past one hundred years, the Communist Party of China has successfully led the Chinese people out of the path of Chinese-style modernization, created a new form of human civilization, expanded the way for developing countries to modernize, and provided a new choice for those countries and nations in the world that hope to accelerate development and maintain their independence.
The "Resolution of the CPC Central Committee on the Party's Major Achievements and Historical Experience in the Century-Long Struggle" clearly points out that as long as we adhere to the path of peaceful development, develop ourselves through safeguarding world peace and safeguard world peace through our own development, advance hand in hand with all progressive forces in the world, do not depend on others, do not plunder others, and never seek hegemony, we will certainly be able to continuously contribute wisdom and strength to the progress of human civilization and work with the people of all countries in the world to push the wheel of history toward a bright future.
As a public good provided by China to the international community, the "Belt and Road" construction naturally has the background of peaceful cooperation. Through 8 years of joint construction, today, the construction of the "Belt and Road" has profoundly affected the course of world history and changed the face of many developing countries. This dream of rejuvenation of connectivity has been sincerely recognized by more and more countries and peoples, and has also revealed new possibilities for the future and destiny of mankind that have never been imagined.
According to a World Bank study, the Belt and Road Initiative will lift 7.6 million people out of extreme poverty and 32 million people out of moderate poverty in relevant countries, and will boost trade growth of 2.8% to 9.7% in participating countries, 1.7% to 6.2% in global trade, and 0.7% to 2.9% in global income.
History is a synergy, but history also needs leverage, and the joint construction of the "Belt and Road" is the leverage to pry history forward.
2. Open and inclusive
The "Belt and Road" is a sunny road for everyone to move forward hand in hand, not a private road of one party.
In April 2021, President Xi Jinping stressed in his video keynote speech at the opening ceremony of the Boao Forum for Asia Annual Conference 2021 that we will work together with all relevant parties willing to participate in the spirit of openness and inclusiveness to build the "Belt and Road" into a "road to poverty reduction" and a "road to growth" and make positive contributions to the common prosperity of mankind.
Flourishes because of openness, and declines because of closure. This is an important experience learned by the Chinese people in history, and it is also an important ideological guide for the spirit of the Silk Road.
For more than 3,000 days and nights, the open and inclusive "Belt and Road" construction has been deepening, the level of international connectivity has continued to improve, and a large number of cooperation projects have taken root. Whether it is land, sea, network, space, whether in the hot South Pacific, or the cold Arctic, the "Belt and Road" construction has achieved solid and heavy achievements in the world.
On the ground, the China-Europe express train shuttles at high speed, becoming the main artery supporting the recovery of the world after the epidemic; in space, the "Beidou" satellite is always surrounded, guiding the accurate positioning and direction of the countries and peoples who jointly build the "Belt and Road"...
In Laos, the "landlocked country" with the largest number of bordering countries and the most inconvenient transportation on the Indochina Peninsula, the China-Laos railway and the trans-Asian railway network that is gradually becoming a reality are making opening up no longer a dream. The drive from the capital Vientiane to the China-Laos border has been shortened from 2 days to 3 hours, and kunming can be reached at night. "The Lao people are proud and excited about the upcoming tourism and trade through the Laos-China railway." Dao Wang, executive vice president of the Lao National Chamber of Commerce and Industry, believes that the Lao-China railway will significantly reduce transportation costs, vigorously promote domestic trade and investment, attract more tourists, and promote progress in communications, education and health.
Not only is the "hard connection" of the "four-in-one" of land, sea, sky and network, but also the "soft connection" of rules and standards docking is also steadily advancing. Up to now, China has signed more than 200 cooperation documents with 140 countries and 32 international organizations to jointly build the "Belt and Road"; signed third-party market cooperation documents with 14 countries including Japan and Italy; signed 7 free trade agreements with 13 countries along the "Belt and Road"; and signed "Certified Operators (AEO)" mutual recognition agreements with 20 economies such as the European Union and Singapore. The level of trade and investment liberalization and facilitation has increased considerably.
From 2013 to September 2021, China's trade in goods with countries along the "Belt and Road" exceeded US$10 trillion; from 2013 to 2020, the proportion of trade in goods between China and countries along the "Belt and Road" increased by 4.1 percentage points in China's total foreign trade.
General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out at the third "Belt and Road" construction forum held not long ago that through the joint construction of the "Belt and Road", the level of opening up of various regions in China has been improved, the field of opening up has been expanded, institutional opening up has been promoted, a wide circle of friends has been built, a new way of promoting common development has been explored, and mutual benefit and win-win results have been achieved with the joint construction of the country.
3. Mutual learning and mutual learning
The charm of civilization lies in its diversity, and the driving force for civilization to advance lies in mutual learning and mutual learning.
When Zhang Qian of the Han Dynasty first arrived at the "legendary" Dayue clan, he was amazed by the Qiong bamboo sticks and Shu cloth sold in the market from Sichuan, China. The Bactrian pot unearthed in Ningxia, China, tells the story of the Battle of Trojan on the outer wall; in the Dunhuang Tibetan Scripture Cave, there are stacks of Chinese, Sanskrit, Khotanese, Tibetan, Uighur, Sogdian, Hebrew and Hebrew books...
The prosperous pictures of the ancient Silk Road are all silently telling that civilization is originally blended and diverse, and mutual learning and mutual learning are the important philosophical cores of the Silk Road spirit.
Interconnection, there is a "hard connection", there is a "soft connection", and there is a "heart connection". As Gu Xueming, president of the Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation of the Ministry of Commerce, said: "The 'Heart Connection' between China and the countries that jointly built the 'Belt and Road' has played a silent role, and the 'Heart Connection' is the emotional link of 'hard connection' and 'soft connection', laying an important foundation for the joint construction of the 'Belt and Road', and becoming a lasting power source for the joint construction of the country into the global industrial chain, supply chain and value chain." ”
In the construction of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, the flagship project of the "Belt and Road" construction, many people's livelihood projects have really improved the lives of locals and built a bridge for the two peoples to connect with each other. Studying Chinese and working on the "Belt and Road" construction project has become a trend in Pakistani society.
In the Orange Line project of The Lahore Rail Transit in Pakistan, there are such a pair of brothers and sisters, 25-year-old Hafezh Usama and 23-year-old Hafsa Hanif, both of whom have found jobs in the project because of their Chinese, and have given themselves Chinese Huang Sining and Huang Xiuyan, and now both brothers and sisters have received scholarships to study in China.
After finishing the project, his brother Huang Sining now works as a lawyer during the day, teaching Pakistani students Chinese and Chinese students Urdu and English after work. Huang Sining has a lot of feelings about my own experience: "Many fellow lawyers and clients respect me very much, because I have studied Chinese and worked on the 'Belt and Road' project, which has brought me more job opportunities." ”
The famous writer Mo Yan once said that the Silk Road is not only a political road, nor is it just a trade road, but a road of human culture, a road of understanding and communication of human emotions, and a road of creation of a new civilization for mankind.
On the Silk Road, there are many more similar stories to Huang Sining and Huang Xiuyan. The skills and knowledge learned from the "Belt and Road" construction project have changed their lives, and the Silk Road spirit they have experienced in their work will also germinate in their hearts.
4. Mutual benefit and win-win situation
Advocating mutual benefit and win-win results is an inexhaustible driving force for the construction of the "Belt and Road" and the secret of our ultimate victory over the common challenges of all mankind. Only a win-win situation can we advance and retreat together. After 8 years of construction, the construction of the "Belt and Road" has long been a pioneer in dealing with the century-old changes and the epidemic situation of the century.
Since last year, due to the impact of the global new crown pneumonia epidemic, international shipping is "difficult to find a box" and "a cabin is difficult to find", and the warehouses of China-Europe express trains and China-Europe road transport have become sought-after goods in the freight market. Dilishati Maimati, who works in Sino-European road transport at Elblus Transport (Xinjiang) Co., Ltd., was impressed by this: "From 2020, cross-border e-commerce goods and traditional goods from China-Europe road transport will crowd the Xinjiang highway ports. I thought that our business would be greatly affected by the epidemic, but I did not expect that thanks to the high-quality infrastructure and trade facilitation results of the previous 'Belt and Road' construction, not only did not lose money, but also achieved contrarian growth. ”
Entering 2021, the number of China-Europe express trains continued to grow, with more than 1,300 trains running in a single month for four consecutive months starting in May, and achieving "no stop" rapid customs clearance for the first time. The rapid flow of goods on the Silk Road has spawned a new format of cross-border e-commerce "China-Europe express trains + overseas warehouses". Today, the China-Europe express train has run more than 40,000 trains, opened 73 operating lines, and reached more than 170 cities in 23 European countries through the three major logistics channels of east, central and west, not only becoming a "steel camel" to stabilize global supply, but also a "life channel" and "destiny link" for countries to fight the epidemic hand in hand.
In Egypt, with the many achievements of mutual benefit and win-win results in the construction of the "Belt and Road" in the early stage, Egypt is building itself into a window and bridge connecting Africa and the world, especially in the recovery of the world economy after the epidemic, providing more impetus for the economic development of the African continent. Egyptian President Sisi recently said that China is the key to the success of the African free trade initiative, and during his tenure as chairman of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa Organization, Egypt will strive to attract foreign investment for Africa, increase Africa's interaction with the outside world, and promote digital transformation and e-commerce development.
But the path of the way is concerned, and the sky is green and green. The construction of the "Belt and Road" provides a platform for Mutual Benefit and Win-win between China and the world, sharing development opportunities and sharing development wisdom. The spirit of the Silk Road organically integrates China's development with the development of the world, and with China's development practice, experience and wisdom, helps the development of the vast number of developing countries, and has become a powerful driving force for activating the world economy, especially developing countries and least developed countries, and has created a new prospect for the common development of all mankind.
Self-reliant, hedidaded. The Communist Party of China and the Chinese Communists, who have just gone through their centenary anniversary, have led China to complete the development process of developed countries for hundreds of years in a few decades, creating two miracles of rapid economic development and long-term social stability. We have reason to believe that by continuing to promote the construction of the "Belt and Road" and the construction of a community with a shared future for mankind, communists will certainly contribute important progressive forces to solving major human problems and building a world of lasting peace, universal security, common prosperity, openness, inclusiveness, cleanliness and beauty.
Guangming Daily (05/12/2021)
Source: Guangming Daily