Shanghai forum gathers expert opinion on BRI

The sixth International Forum on Belt and Road Initiative and Global Governance concluded on Saturday in Shanghai with dozens of domestic and international scholars, officials and entrepreneurs sharing their views on what the BRI can offer with a backdrop of global uncertainty and turbulence.

The two-day forum was organized by Fudan University and the Silk Road Think Tank Network.

"The Belt and Road Initiative plays an important role in global governance," said Chen Zhou, vice minister of the international department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, via video.

"The fairness, openness, inclusiveness and shareability promoted by BRI contributes to solving problems in current global governance such as underrepresentation, poor operation and ineffectiveness.

"The new ideas provided by BRI push global governance to greater fairness and rationality."

The initiative was first proposed in 2013. As of July, China had signed over 200 cooperation documents with 149 countries and 32 international organizations under the framework of the BRI.

Jiao Yang, Party secretary of Fudan University and chairwoman of the university council, pointed out the high-level development of the BRI is a dynamic practice of building a community with a shared future for mankind. As the forum host, Fudan University plans to contribute more intelligent power as BRI approaches the 10-year anniversary mark, she said.

"We will seize the opportunity brought by BRI's 10-year anniversary and try to fulfill more high-quality academic achievements and political consulting products by merging the country and regional studies with BRI research.

"We also hope to train more talents on BRI and global governance and promote cooperation between universities, colleges, institutions and think tanks along the Belt and Road," Jiao said.