The Great Practice of Working Together to Build a Community with a Shared Future for Mankind: On High-quality Joint Construction of the Belt and Road Initiative

Source: Economic Daily

At the conference to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China, General Secretary Xi Jinping stressed that "taking history as a mirror and creating the future, we must continue to promote the construction of a community with a shared future for mankind" "We must hold high the banner of peace, development, cooperation and win-win results, pursue an independent foreign policy of peace, adhere to the path of peaceful development, promote the construction of a new type of international relations, promote the construction of a community with a shared future for mankind, promote the high-quality development of the 'Belt and Road', and provide new opportunities for the world with China's new development."

Promoting the construction of a community with a shared future for mankind is General Secretary Xi Jinping's use of the broad vision of Marxism to deeply observe the general trend of global development, face the question of the times of "what is wrong with the world and what should we do", focus on the future and destiny of mankind, and contribute to safeguarding world peace and promoting common development.

Jointly building the "Belt and Road" is a major measure to practice the great concept of a community with a shared future for mankind. After years of efforts, the joint construction of the "Belt and Road" initiative has increasingly become an important platform for practicing this great concept, forming a set of value orientation and practice methods that are highly consistent with the concept of a community with a shared future for mankind, and producing more and more extensive international influence. In the international and domestic context of the accelerated evolution of the world's unprecedented major changes in the past century and China's entry into a new stage of development, we should more clearly take the joint construction of the "Belt and Road" as the main starting point for promoting the construction of a community with a shared future for mankind, promote high-quality interconnection, promote high-quality economic and trade cooperation, deepen high-quality health and environmental protection cooperation, strengthen high-quality security guarantees, and make the concept of a community of human destiny take root and blossom in the joint construction of the "Belt and Road".

The world's unprecedented changes in a century have accelerated their evolution, and the great significance of promoting the construction of a community with a shared future for mankind has become more prominent

First, promoting the building of a community with a shared future for mankind is China's wisdom to safeguard world peace, security and promote common development.

General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out that no matter how the international situation changes, China's confidence and determination to safeguard national sovereignty and security will not change, and China's sincerity and goodwill to safeguard world peace and promote common development will not change.

In today's world, peace and development are still the themes of the times, but the international environment is becoming more and more complex, and instability and uncertainty have been significantly enhanced. Some major countries put their own interests first, vigorously engaged in unilateralism, protectionism, and hegemonism, and vigorously engaged in "small circles" of economic and trade rules, posing a threat to world peace and development; the spread of non-traditional security risks such as major infectious diseases, climate change, and network security, especially the outbreak of the new crown pneumonia epidemic highlighted the major security challenges facing mankind; the world economy has been weak for a long time, still in a period of deep adjustment after the international financial crisis, major economies have promoted re-industrialization and industrial return, and international trade and investment have been sluggish. The development gap among countries is widening.

In this context, China has clearly declared that it will continue to promote the construction of a community with a shared future for mankind, which is a systematic solution to the systemic problems of world peace, security and development, grasping the greatest common denominator of the interests of all countries in the world's unprecedented major changes in a century, and contributing Chinese wisdom to integrating the Chinese dream with the world dream and realizing the aspirations of the people of all countries for a better life. As General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out, as long as we adhere to the path of peaceful development and work with the people of all countries to promote the construction of a community with a shared future for mankind, we will certainly be able to usher in a better future for human peace and development.

Second, promoting the construction of a community with a shared future for mankind is China's plan for reforming and improving the global governance system.

General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out that the reform of the global governance system and international order has accelerated, and strengthening global governance and improving the global governance system is the trend of the times and the common task facing all countries.

At present, the basic structure of the global governance system is still playing an effective role, but many mechanisms, rules and modes of operation can no longer adapt to changes in the international balance of forces, cannot adapt to the requirements of the in-depth development of economic globalization, and cannot adapt to the new problems and challenges commonly faced by the international community, and must be adjusted, reformed and improved. Emerging market countries and developing countries have risen, but the global governance system has not fully reflected the changes in this pattern, and its representation and inclusiveness are not enough. With the imbalance of global development in the last round of economic globalization, the cooperation mechanisms and rules in emerging fields such as e-commerce, digital trade, climate change, financial security, network security, and public health security are not yet perfect, and it is difficult to meet the needs of the safe and efficient flow of commodities and factors.

In this context, China has clearly declared that it will continue to promote the construction of a community with a shared future for mankind, creatively put forward and practice the global governance concept of consultation, co-construction and sharing, and creatively propose and promote the high-quality development of the "Belt and Road", which has received enthusiastic responses from more and more countries, providing new ideas and new solutions for improving the global governance system. As General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out, China will continue to actively participate in the reform and construction of the global governance system, contribute more Chinese wisdom, Chinese solutions and Chinese strength to the world, promote the construction of a world of lasting peace, universal security, common prosperity, openness, inclusiveness, cleanliness and beauty, and let the sunshine of the construction of a community with a shared future for mankind shine on the world.

Third, promoting the construction of a community with a shared future for mankind is China's proposal to guide human civilization towards it.

General Secretary Xi Jinping stressed: "Diversity is the basic characteristic of the world and the charm of human civilization. "Civilizations communicate because of diversity, learn from each other because of exchanges, and develop because of mutual learning." Throughout the ages, the history of the exchange and intermingling of civilizations in various countries has proved this point.

The multipolarization of the world, economic globalization, cultural diversification, and social informatization have developed in depth, and the trend of exchanges and cooperation among different civilizations on an equal footing has become increasingly obvious. In recent years, profound changes have taken place in the international political and economic pattern, and emerging market countries and developing countries, including China, have risen in groups. In the fight against the new crown pneumonia epidemic, it highlights the differences in the governance of different countries, and fully demonstrates the institutional advantages of our country and the profound heritage of Chinese civilization. At the same time, western conservative forces have regained the Cold War mentality, and the dregs of the "clash of civilizations theory" have risen.

In this context, China clearly declares that it will continue to promote the construction of a community with a shared future for mankind and work with all peace-loving countries and peoples to carry forward the common values of peace, development, fairness, justice, democracy and freedom for all mankind. This Chinese proposition demonstrates the historical responsibility of a responsible major country and will surely push the wheel of history toward a bright goal. As General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out, the people of Chinese are willing to work with the people of all countries to uphold the common human values of peace, development, fairness, justice, democracy and freedom, safeguard human dignity and rights, promote the formation of a more just, reasonable and inclusive global human rights governance, jointly build a community with a shared future for mankind, and create a better future for the world.

Under the new situation, to promote the construction of a community with a shared future for mankind, the joint construction of the "Belt and Road" should become the main starting point

The joint construction of the "Belt and Road" has formed a set of values that are highly consistent with the concept of a community with a shared future for mankind.

General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out that the "Belt and Road" construction closely links the people of all countries along the route, is committed to win-win cooperation and common development, and allows the people of all countries to better share the fruits of development, which is also an important goal of China's initiative to jointly build a community with a shared future for mankind.

The Belt and Road Initiative adheres to the Silk Road spirit of peaceful cooperation, openness and inclusiveness, mutual learning and mutual learning, and mutual benefit and win-win results, and gives it a new era connotation, providing a solid historical and cultural foundation for promoting the construction of a community with a shared future for mankind; jointly building the "Belt and Road" adheres to the principle of consultation, co-construction and sharing, advocates true multilateralism, and provides an important methodological basis for promoting the construction of a new type of international relations, promoting the development of the global governance system in a more just and reasonable direction, and promoting the construction of a community with a shared future for mankind; and jointly building the "Belt and Road" "Adhere to the concept of openness, green and integrity, do not engage in closed and exclusive small circles, take green as the background, insist that all cooperation operates under the sun, creatively apply the new development concept to build a community with a shared future for mankind; jointly build the "Belt and Road" strive to achieve high standards, benefit people's livelihood and sustainable goals, introduce rules and standards universally supported by all parties, and make the results of the joint construction of the "Belt and Road" better benefit all people, while ensuring commercial and financial sustainability."

A set of value pursuits, including spirit, principles, concepts, goals, etc., formed in the joint construction of the "Belt and Road", is in line with the concept of a community with a shared future for mankind and conforms to the requirements of the times and the universal aspirations of the people of all countries. As General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: "The 'Belt and Road' is a sunny road for everyone to move forward hand in hand, not a private path of one party." All interested countries can join in, participate together, cooperate and benefit together. Jointly building the 'Belt and Road' pursues development, advocates win-win results, and transmits hope. ”

The joint construction of the "Belt and Road" has formed a set of practical methods to promote the shared development of all countries.

From Eurasia to Africa, the Americas and Oceania, the joint construction of the "Belt and Road" has opened up new space for world economic growth, built a new platform for international trade and investment, expanded new practices for improving global economic governance, and made new contributions to improving the well-being of the people of all countries, becoming a road of opportunity and prosperity.

Jointly building the "Belt and Road" takes interconnection as the key, promotes the "trinity" of infrastructure, regulations and personnel exchanges, and realizes the five major areas of policy communication, facility connectivity, unimpeded trade, financial integration, and people-to-people ties, opening up a new path for promoting the common development and prosperity of all countries. Jointly building the "Belt and Road" will take the "hard connection" of infrastructure as the priority direction, promote the construction of an interconnection network led by economic corridors such as the New Eurasian Land Bridge, with large channels and information highways such as China-Europe express trains and new land-sea corridors as the skeleton, and railways, ports, pipe networks, etc. as the backbone, radiating and driving more people in a wider area to participate in the international industrial chain supply chain value chain cooperation, significantly improving the development capabilities of countries along the route. Jointly building the "Belt and Road" will take the "soft connection" of rules and standards as an important support, vigorously promote trade and investment liberalization and facilitation, seize the opportunities of digitalization, networking and intelligent development, develop new formats and models such as "Silk Road E-commerce", build a digital Silk Road and an innovative Silk Road, and add new bright colors and inject new momentum into the continuing weakness of the world economy and international trade. It is estimated that the joint construction of the "Belt and Road" will increase the GDP of "developing East Asian and Pacific countries" by an average of 2.6% to 3.9%. Jointly building the "Belt and Road" will take the people-to-people connection of the countries along the route as the social foundation, carry out various forms of people-to-people exchanges in a wide range of fields, build the Intellectual Silk Road, the Green Silk Road and the Healthy Silk Road, focus on poverty eradication, and help the countries along the route achieve sustainable development. According to the relevant World Bank report, by 2030, the joint construction of the "Belt and Road" is expected to help lift 7.6 million people out of extreme poverty and 32 million people out of moderate poverty around the world.

The set of practical methods with interconnection as the key in jointly building the "Belt and Road" profoundly reflects the objective requirements for the development of the world's productive forces, reflects the general law of the in-depth advancement of economic globalization, reflects the good wishes of the people of all countries to seek peace and development, and highlights the sense of a community with a shared future for mankind that is in the same boat and shoulders the responsibilities of rights and responsibilities, and will surely produce more and more extensive international influence. As General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: "The key to jointly building the 'Belt and Road' is interconnection. We should build a global connectivity partnership to achieve common development and prosperity. ”

The Belt and Road Initiative has formed a global network of partnerships.

Through the joint efforts of all parties, the blueprint for jointly building the "Belt and Road" has been preliminarily drawn, and the results have gradually emerged. In the process, friends from different countries met each other and formed close partners.

The Belt and Road Initiative and its core concept have been written into relevant documents of the United Nations, the G20, APEC and other regional organizations. Up to now, many countries and international organizations have signed more than 200 cooperation documents with China to jointly build the "Belt and Road", and the "Belt and Road" initiative has been docked with the development strategies and plans of many countries and regions, and the joint countries have extended from Asia and Europe to Africa, Latin America, the South Pacific and other regions. The Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation has become an important platform for participating countries and international organizations to deepen exchanges, enhance mutual trust and close exchanges. The AIIB and the Silk Road Fund have become important investment and financing platforms for all parties to jointly build and cooperate. Focusing on specific areas of cooperation such as trade, investment, taxation, and intellectual property protection, relevant parties have also established many pragmatic and effective cooperation frameworks and institutional mechanisms.

In order to actively respond to the global pandemic of the new crown pneumonia epidemic, the relevant countries of the "Belt and Road" have strengthened anti-epidemic cooperation, and under the situation of severe challenges in international maritime and air transport, China-Europe express trains and other land transport have transported a large number of anti-epidemic materials, becoming a "life channel" to protect the life safety and physical health of people along the route.

This global network of partnerships is a valuable asset for jointly building the Belt and Road Initiative and a powerful foundation for practicing the concept of a community with a shared future for mankind. As General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: "After the 'Belt and Road' initiative was proposed, it has received widespread attention from the international community and positive response from all relevant countries. The policy coordination of many countries participating in the joint construction of the 'Belt and Road' has been continuously strengthened, the implementation of major economic and trade projects has been accelerated, the infrastructure connectivity network is taking shape, industrial and financial cooperation is steadily advancing, and the people-to-people exchanges between countries have become closer, bringing tangible benefits to the people of all countries. ”

Promote the high-quality development of the "Belt and Road" and inject strong momentum into the construction of a community with a shared future for mankind

The first is to promote high-quality interconnection. General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out that the purpose of jointly building the "Belt and Road" initiative is to focus on connectivity, deepen pragmatic cooperation, work together to deal with various risks and challenges facing mankind, and achieve mutual benefit and common development.

At present, economic globalization has encountered adverse currents, some developed economies have risen protectionism, and it is more important and more urgent to adhere to open development and build an interconnected world, which is an important foundation for promoting the construction of a community with a shared future for mankind. It is necessary to strengthen the "hard connection" of infrastructure, increase financial investment and intellectual support for infrastructure projects, focus on key channels, key nodes, and key projects, promote the four-in-one connection of land, sea and sky networks, build high-quality, sustainable, risk-resistant, affordable, inclusive and accessible infrastructure, polish brands such as China-Europe express trains and "Silk Road Shipping", actively and steadily promote the construction of "green channels" for goods, and maintain the safe and smooth operation of regional industrial chains and supply chains; it is necessary to deepen the rules and standards "Soft Connectivity". Sign free trade agreements, investment protection agreements, and double taxation agreements with more countries, promote the joint construction of the "Belt and Road" countries' commercial construction of e-commerce cooperation mechanisms, trade remedy cooperation mechanisms, etc., strengthen the docking and cooperation of rules in the fields of financing, trade, energy, digital information, agriculture and other fields; we must actively promote people-to-people ties between countries along the route, deepen cooperation at all levels in various fields such as public health, digital economy, green development, science and technology education, and make the joint construction of the "Belt and Road" a bridge and link for mutual learning and mutual learning among civilizations.

The second is to promote high-quality economic and trade cooperation. General Secretary Xi Jinping stressed that development is the general key to solving all problems. To promote the construction of the "Belt and Road", we must focus on the fundamental issue of development, release the development potential of all countries, and achieve great economic integration, great linkage of development, and great sharing of achievements.

Economic and trade relations are the "ballast stones" and "propellers" of international relations, and it is necessary to build a community of interests, responsibilities and destiny through high-quality economic and trade cooperation. On the basis of building high-level international transport channels, with high-quality economic and trade cooperation platforms such as the Ciie, Canton Fair, and Beijing Fair as the carrier, with the improvement of trade and investment liberalization and facilitation mechanisms as the guarantee, and with the development of new formats and models such as "Silk Road E-commerce" as the feature, we should open the market to the high-quality commodities, technologies and elements of the "Belt and Road" countries, and strive to promote the continuous expansion of trade exchanges between China and the countries along the "Belt and Road", the deepening of two-way investment, the continued expansion of industrial cooperation, and the continued progress of multilateral cooperation.

In this process, we should adhere to highlighting the key points, classify and accurately implement policies for different partners and different cooperation areas, and guide all aspects of resources to focus on those construction projects with demonstration effects and benchmarking effects, so as to form more visible results. We should adhere to shared development, give better play to the role of trade, investment and industrial cooperation in eliminating poverty, increasing employment and improving people's livelihood in countries and regions along the route, and make more contributions to local economic and social development. We should adhere to international standards, better integrate the smooth trade of the "Belt and Road" with WTO rules, strengthen economic and technical cooperation and capacity building in the field of trade and investment, and comprehensively and balancedly promote sustainable economic, social and environmental development.

The third is to deepen cooperation in high-quality health and environmental protection. General Secretary Xi Jinping stressed that it is necessary to integrate support for the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development into the joint construction of the "Belt and Road", dock with internationally recognized rules, standards and best practices, and comprehensively promote economic growth, social development and environmental protection, so that all countries can benefit from it and achieve common development.

At present, the global pandemic of the new crown pneumonia epidemic is still not over, and most of the countries that jointly build the "Belt and Road" are developing countries, and they have a strong desire to strengthen epidemic prevention and control and public health cooperation with China. We should comply with the expectations of the people of all countries to protect life safety and physical health, vigorously promote anti-epidemic cooperation among the "Belt and Road" countries, enhance the availability, accessibility and affordability of vaccines, drugs and medical supplies, improve health infrastructure, enhance the public health capacity of countries along the route, build closer health partnerships, build a healthy Silk Road, and promote the construction of a community of human health.

As an important non-traditional security risk, the impact of climate change on human production and life is also becoming increasingly significant. With the release of carbon neutrality targets in more than 100 countries and regions around the world, countries around the world have formed an international consensus on climate change. We should strive to achieve the goal of "double carbon" as the guide, put climate change in a more important position in the construction of the "Green Silk Road", take the initiative to assume the international responsibility for responding to climate change while strengthening the construction of our own ecological civilization, and promote international exchanges and cooperation in the fields of climate change, marine cooperation, wildlife protection, desertification prevention and control of the "Belt and Road" countries, so that the joint construction of the "Belt and Road" will become an important practical platform for building a community of human and natural life.

The fourth is to strengthen high-quality security guarantees. General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out that we must adhere to the overall development and security, enhance the awareness of opportunities and risks, establish a bottom-line thinking, estimate the difficulties more fully, think about the risks more deeply, pay attention to plugging loopholes, strengths and weaknesses, play a good game of chess, play the initiative battle, effectively prevent and resolve various risks and challenges, and ensure the smooth progress of the cause of socialist modernization.

At present, the world has entered a period of turbulent change, various instabilities and uncertainties have been significantly enhanced, and the necessity and urgency of coordinating development and security and strengthening the construction of security guarantee mechanisms in the joint construction of the "Belt and Road" have become increasingly obvious. It is necessary to attach great importance to risk prevention, strengthen the security risk prevention mechanism as a systematic project, and comprehensively improve the ability to ensure security and deal with risks. Improve monitoring and early warning mechanisms, and explore a classification and grading risk warning system for foreign-invested enterprises. Accelerate the signing of investment protection agreements with countries along the "Belt and Road" to provide guarantees for the effective prevention and control of investment risks. Explore the creation of a foreign exchange trading product system that serves the joint construction of the "Belt and Road" to help enterprises avoid the exchange rate risks of investment in countries along the route. By strengthening high-quality safety guarantees, we will promote the better construction and operation of "Belt and Road" projects, ensure that enterprises and personnel can "go out" more safely and securely, and achieve lasting development in the local area. At the same time, countries along the Belt and Road should be encouraged to uphold a common, comprehensive, cooperative and sustainable security concept, effectively respond to various risks and challenges, and build a security community.

(Source of this article: Economic Daily Author: Li Fuyi, Yang Changyong, Institute of Foreign Economics, China Academy of Macroeconomics)