Silk Roads initiatives enters new phase

ISTANBUL -- China's initiatives on building the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, popularly known as the Belt and Road Initiatives, has entered a more practical phase of fulfillment, a leading Chinese think tank has said.

Speaking at an international conference held recently in Istanbul, Turkey, Li Wei, president of China's official think tank Development Research Center of the State Council, said the regional development initiatives brought up by China have evolved from a mere roadmap to cooperations at practical levels.

"The initiatives are evolving from proposals into actions, the blueprint is becoming reality and the effort of communication over the ideas is shifting to practical cooperation," said Li.

"The future work calls on experts, scholars and entrepreneurs of all countries to discuss the specific areas and means for cooperation," Li said.

More than 200 political and academic figures of countries on the historical route of the Silk Road attended the conference titled "Silk Roads: Inspirations and Opportunities" in Istanbul and shared their views on the Zone-Road initiatives.

In a statement to the conference, Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said that Turkey is willing to undertake the historic mission to re-energize the Silk Road, which can help raise the people's living standards along the road and enhance relations among countries in the region.

According to Li, promoting regional prosperity is the primary goal for building the modern Silk Road, since economic development of the countries along the Silk Road stood at a low level, with per capita gross national income amounting to only 46.4 percent of the global average.

The Zone-Road initiatives are the most important ideas of development of the 21st century, which will play a significant role in the development of the Eurasia region, former Foreign Minister of Serbia Vuk Jeremic told the conference.

His remarks were echoed by Igor Luksic, deputy prime minister and foreign minister of Montenegro.

The establishment of the Zone-Road initiatives is crucial to Montenegro, since investment from Chinese enterprises in Montenegro has reached $5 billion, Luksic said, adding that his country welcomes more investment and looks forward to closer economic cooperation with China.