BRI promotes economic globalization, benefits people's lives

The Belt and Road Initiative promotes greater openness and integration of the global economy and people can share the fruits of economic globalization, representatives of Chinese and foreign think tanks said on Tuesday.

"Globalization is irreversible from an economic perspective. And China‘s success in the past decades is partly due to its openness and taking full advantage of globalization," said Grzegorz Kolodko, former deputy prime minister of Poland and professor of International Political Economics at Kozminski University, during the plenary meeting of Belt and Road Studies Network held in Beijing on Oct 17.

Over 300 political, academic and business representatives from over 40 countries and regions attended the plenary meeting.

Yu Jiang, the full-time deputy secretary-general of Xi Jinping Thought on Diplomacy Studies Centre, echoed Kolodko's comments, and said that the initiative provides a good formula for global governance.

"China is committed to promoting economic connectivity among countries, building an open world economy, accelerating trade and investment facilitation, and promoting greater openness and integration of the global economy" , he said, "so that people of all countries can share the fruits of economic globalization."

Mehmet Akkan Suver, president of the Marmara Group Foundation, said although historical and cultural values vary across different regions and continents, the initiative has successfully connected Asia, Europe, and Africa and has achieved significant accomplishments.

"From 2013 to 2022, the total import and export volume between China and the Belt and Road countries increased to $2.07 trillion," he said.

He added the initiative has generated substantial market demand, leveraging a comprehensive industrial system, human capital, and entrepreneurial resources.

Yu Tiejun, dean of the Institute of International and Strategic Studies at Peking University, emphasized the need for enhancing people-to-people connectivity in the high-quality development of the initiative by highlighting "shared values, similar contexts, and common prosperity".

With differences in political systems, ideologies, or levels of socio-economic development, we can still embrace common principles and norms, so as to construct a community with a shared future for mankind, he said.

Yu added that attention should be given more to projects that impact people's lives directly.

"It is crucial to increase investments in healthcare, environmental protection, disaster relief, poverty alleviation, and education, so that ordinary people in local communities can enjoy the benefits," he said.

Tang Wenruo contributed to this story.