Modern idea for linking nations rooted in China's history

A tugboat at Fangcheng Port in the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, nudges a heavy ship, key to the Silk Road's success. Provided to China Daily

When China turns to the seas, it is to share -and to prosper.

The 21-century "Maritime Silk Road" is a new concept, introduced by President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang last year during meetings with their Southeast Asian counterparts at various events.

But the concept is not as new, as its new name. It was borrowed from the historic Silk Road.

The German geographer and geologist Ferdinand von Richthofen and French Sinologist Edouard Chavennes coined the term in the early 1900s from their independent research.

In the 2,000 years before the First Opium War (1839-42), maritime trade formed, grew, prospered and declined between China, the Middle East and East Africa, through the waters of the East China Sea and South China Sea, Strait of Malacca, Bay of Bengal, Indian Ocean and Arabian Sea.

It peaked in the early Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), with seven expeditions led by Zheng He, a diplomat and admiral, from 1405 to 1430.

Half a century before Italian explorer Christopher Columbus and Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan made their continental discoveries in Africa, India and the Americas, Zheng - with his 200-ship fleet and 27,000 sailors - spread silk, china and goodwill to his hosts in 30-plus countries, large and small, and received respect in return.

This is a historic legacy on which China can promote the concept today, especially in the context of disputes raised by others in the South China Sea.

Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said last month: "This initiative of building the Maritime Silk Road is just an idea for cooperation. It is an open-ended platform. The purpose is to integrate all kinds of ongoing cooperation, especially cooperation on connectivity in the spirit of the (ancient) Silk Road so that regional countries can connect with each other, promote each other and accelerate each others' common development."

It is clear China would like to package the existing cooperation projects in the region into the same concept. And it is the same for the sister concept - the "Silk Road Economic Belt" - that Chinese leaders proposed at the same time to integrate separate partnered projects on land across Central Asia.

That's why the Chinese government need not come up with more concrete plans. China has an open, supportive and welcoming attitude to such seemingly "loose" proposals for the two Silk Roads. The country just needs to integrate all existing projects and seek new possibilities of partnership in the process.

The two initiatives excite local governments at home, which have a clearer vision of the two foreign-bound roads. Many coastal-region governments in China regard the Maritime Silk Road as a good opportunity to secure more central government funding and policy support.

Open attitude

At least seven cities have proclaimed their support in the past half-year for reviving the Maritime Silk Road.

The National Development and Reform Commission, China's main national development planner, said last week that "there has not been any plan yet" on the initiative, which Li highlighted in his Government Work Report during the gathering of China's top legislative authority last week.

The Chinese government is more open to its foreign partners on the initiative than it has been when dealing with local governments on the issue. For now, the central government considers the initiative part of its foreign policy and not a domestic issue.

"China has an open attitude. We also hope to see good suggestions from other countries so as to substantiate this idea," said Hua, the Foreign Ministry spokeswoman.

In some people's eyes, China wants more from a solid maritime trade route, and naysaying about the new initiative has already begun. Last month, Diplomat magazine claimed the Maritime Silk Road is one of China's military initiatives. Similar China-bashing soon followed.

Some analysts think that China, instead of building a military presence, would rather use the initiative to ease tensions over the South China Sea disputes with its neighbors.

"The Maritime Silk Road is more of a symbolic concept," said Yang Baoyun, a researcher of international relations at Peking University. "While the concept still needs fleshing out, enhancing trade and economic cooperation between China and the region could ease tensions over territorial disputes."

China has actually made constant efforts to promote common development, especially in Southeast Asia. China's integration with Southeast Asia through the free trade area of China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations over the past 10 years has laid a solid foundation to extend current cooperation to a larger scope, Yang said.

To benefit all

China's invitations to participate in the initiative - to India last month during the 17th bilateral border talks in New Delhi, and to Sri Lanka during Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Gamini Lakshman Peiris' visit to Beijing - show that Chinese leaders' vision for the Silk Road does not end at the Strait of Malacca.

The two invitees' positive responses to China's offer show that China needs to take the lead in regional integration.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi pointed out in his meeting with his Sri Lankan counterpart that interconnectivity on the seas and the maritime economy are where pragmatic cooperation can be carried out first.

Some analysts think industrial parks in coastal areas, harbor construction and cooperation in the other maritime economy fields, such as fisheries, resource exploration, shipping and offshore safety, will provide solid footholds to materialize the initiative into tangible benefits for the participants.

Malaysia's Kuantan port and industrial park plus its sister Sino-Malaysian industrial park in Qinzhou of the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region at the coast of Beibu Gulf are two successful examples for the building of the Maritime Silk Road.

Wang Jun, an economics researcher at China Center for International Economic Exchanges in Beijing, said: "There should be an Asian infrastructure construction investment bank to provide financial support to construction of the Silk Road. And China should also reach an inclusive agreement, as an institutional guarantee for the initiative, on regional cooperation of economic partnership with the Silk Road partners that fits into existing regional trade compacts."

China needs to take the lead to build some important harbors along the maritime Silk Road, guaranteeing supplies, protection, and expanding the influences of the road, Wang added.

It is estimated the bilateral trade volume of China and ASEAN can reach more than $1 trillion from $400 billion in 2012 in five to seven years if the project can be launched smoothly.

There are suggestions for China to draw lessons from the success in the ancient Maritime Silk Road. Zheng Hailin, a researcher of politics at the Hong Kong Institute of Asia-Pacific Studies, said: "The Chinese government must not walk the West's old way as colonialists. And the core values of Chinese civilization and strong national and military power are the foundations for the Maritime Silk Road."

Premier Li vowed to build China into a responsible maritime power in his recent Government Work Report. The Maritime Silk Road is only the first stride in China's journey to become such a power.

Huo Yan contributed to this story.

liyang@chinadaily.com.cn