With the historic announcement of eight major initiatives by Chinese President Xi Jinping at the 3rd Belt and Road Forum (BRF), China has propelled the spirit of the Silk Road toward achieving joint development and prosperity among participating countries in the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). President Xi’s keynote speech strongly asserts China’s unwavering commitment and confidence in fostering modern and high-quality development among all partner countries.
The first successful decade of BRI development has laid down the clear path of future goals that will definitely be fuelling up the economic growth of common development in Belt and Road countries.
The presence of international leaders, heads of international organizations, and media representatives has conveyed a powerful message to the international community that China enjoys robust diplomatic support and has emerged as a significant source of investment to meet the needs of numerous countries grappling with financial challenges.
Over the past decade, BRI facilitated connectivity that has been highlighted in terms of bonding bridges, path to prosperity thriving ports and happy cities jointly built by China and its partners.
The idea of ‘community with a shared future of humanity’ first appeared in the 18th National Congress of Communist Party of China that attracted the attention of the international community as it provided the base of multilateral cooperation with meaningful and mutual consultation based on a win-win situation. This report stated that win-win cooperation needed the awareness of a community with a shared future for humanity, which expected countries to stick together in times of difficulty, share rights and shoulder obligations and boost the common interests of mankind.
President Xi Jinping of China has consistently stressed the importance of elevating awareness through a series of significant bilateral and multilateral diplomatic initiatives. At the start of the launch of BRI, President Xi proposed building a China-ASEAN community of shared destiny, a China-Pakistan community of shared destiny, an Asian community of shared destiny and a China-Latin American and Caribbean countries community of shared destiny and a community of shared destiny with African countries.
In September 2015, President Xi made an important speech entitled “Working Together to Forge a New Partnership of Win-Win Cooperation and Create a Community with a Shared Future for Humanity” at the General Debate of the 70th session of the UN General Assembly at the UN headquarters in New York.
In January 2017, Xi Jinping delivered a keynote speech entitled “Working Together to build a Community with a Shared Future for Humanity” at UBN headquarters in Geneva.
In his speech he elaborated on the concept of how to build a community with the shared future of humanity, giving answers to the questions on what had happened to the world and how we should respond.
In October 2017, Xi Jinping explicitly stated that to build a community with the shared future for humanity is the lofty goal of China’s diplomacy and called on the people of all countries to work together to “build an open, inclusive, clean and beautiful world that enjoys lasting peace, universal security and common prosperity.
The 3rd Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation conveyed to the international community that the concept of a ‘community with a shared future of humanity’ represents a proactive approach aligned with the developmental trajectory of human society. This approach is rooted in insights into the international situation and the evolving trends shaping the global landscape. It reflects the global vision beyond narrow minded national and state interests, state to state relations and differences in ideologies.
The assembly at the BRF demonstrates China’s contemplation of the future of humanity. Ideally, the international community should strive to attain ‘a community with a shared future for humanity’ that transcends being merely an abstract or imaginary concept.
Throughout the initial decade of the Belt and Road Initiative, Chinese leadership has consistently refined and expanded it into specific, gradually achievable targets. In this golden and historical development with actively advocating, enriching and promoting the concept of ‘a community with a shared future for humanity’, the Chinese leadership also proposed new concepts such as correctly viewing justice and profit, partnership rather than alliance, a new type of major country relations, global economic governance and new security concepts .
These practical and feasible concepts have continuously enriched diplomatic practice with Chinese characteristics and have been integrated into the systems of diplomatic theory with Chinese characteristics.
With the rapid and high quality development of BRI, the core of China’s diplomatic concepts and strategy has maintained and advanced national interests and building a community with a shared future for humanity as well as to uphold peace, promote development and pursue cooperation and mutual benefits at both regional and international levels.
At this point of time, while entering in the 2nd decade of development, the gathering at 3rd BRF has sent a very strong, dynamic, exclusive and open message to the international community that the connectivity and development is the future of our generation for living in a peaceful environment and this initiative is a long term platform that will always be providing more opportunities of prosperity to all.
views expressed are writer’s own.
