BRI has a green thumb vis-a-vis development

Clean energy crucial for high-quality development

One of the major steps President Xi proposed in his speech at the third Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation on Wednesday is to promote green development, which is based on the experiences gathered through the course of the Belt and Road Initiative's development over the past decade and is a response to the doubts raised over the initiative's future.

Charting the course of the initiative's development will help improve its performance in the future, while attaching greater importance to green development is crucial for achieving sustainable development.

Special attention should be paid to the source and generation process of energy. For example, if new energy vehicles run on electricity generated by thermal power plants, can it be said they are using green energy? Or, will those vehicles be considered eco-friendly?

We are transitioning toward real green energy. New methods are being used to generate and store energy, including the use of large-capacity electricity storage equipment for wind power and solar power.

The way energy is generated and the form of energy being used reflect a country's social structure. The present world is built upon the exploits of the Industrial Revolution which was driven by fossil fuels. Through generation of green energy using advanced, eco-friendly methods, and building green infrastructure, a new socioeconomic structure can be built, which in turn can help mitigate the climate crisis.

The transformation of society through green development will facilitate high-quality development, something that the Belt and Road Initiative has been pursuing to achieve common development. Since China is a leader in the production and use of solar photovoltaic panels, solar power cooperation with other countries can propel the Belt and Road Initiative's development.

By increasing communication and promoting innovation in green technology, the Belt and Road Initiative will make greater contributions to global economic development, especially to less-developed countries' growth, helping them gradually narrow the gap with the developed ones.

Sun Xingjie, deputy director of, and a professor at, the Institute of International Studies, Jilin University