Belt, Road is not only about China, Xi says

Xi tells top Party leaders initiative must serve interests of all partners

China will consider and serve the long-term interests of all countries involved in the Belt and Road Initiative, President Xi Jinping vowed on Friday.

At a historical study meeting of the ancient land and sea Silk Roads, the president told Communist Party of China Central Committee members, "The Belt and Road Initiative, though initiated by China, is not only about China.

"I hope people in all countries along the Belt and Road will feel the benefit brought by the initiative."

Xi proposed the initiative in 2013, envisioning a trade and infrastructure network that would connect Asia with Europe and Africa along the ancient land and sea routes.

"While taking care of our own interests, we will give more consideration and care to the interests of other countries," he said.

Analysts say the initiative covers at least 4.4 billion people in more than 60 countries, or 63 percent of the global population.

Xi stressed the function of the market in promoting the initiative as well as the government's role in overall coordination.

He said that Chinese companies must be law-abiding and responsible entities in foreign countries while pursuing economic returns.

Li Guoqiang, deputy director of the Institute of Chinese Borderland Studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told China Daily that the purpose of the study was to learn from the experiences and mistakes of the ancient Silk Road and to open leaders' minds to innovative ways to implement the initiative.

The president stressed that China cannot seek short-term successes and quick profits when promoting this initiative, said Li, who delivered a speech at the group study.

What interested the president most was to take good consideration of relations between interests, enterprises and local and central governments, Li said.

Zha Xiaogang, a researcher at the Shanghai Institutes for International Studies, said taking care of other countries' interests as well as China's is crucial now that an increasing number of foreign countries have decided to cooperate in the initiative because they have come to understand China's visions and policies.

Zha said that Xi wants to balance the interests on three-levels: between China and the host country, between the different interest groups in the host country, and between China and other investors in the host country.

Only by taking good care of all these interests can we make the initiative profitable and sustainable, Zha said.

Xinhua contributed to this story.