Moving 'history forward'

President Xi Jinping addresses the roundtable of the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation at the Beijing Huairou International Conference Center at Yanqi Lake on Monday.[Xu Jingxing/China Daily]

China welcomes all friends cherishing the same ideals to join the Belt and Road, which will neither exclude nor target any side, he said.

"The Belt and Road development does not shut out, nor is it directed against, any party," Xi said.

When addressing the closing ceremony of the forum, Xi said, "People's pursuit of a better life has helped move history forward", and the Belt and Road development is bringing together people of all countries along the routes in a joint endeavor for common development and shared benefits through win-win cooperation.

Xu Haoliang, assistant secretary-general of the United Nations and director of the United Nations Development Programme's regional bureau for Asia and the Pacific, said the Belt and Road Initiative promotes the opposite of an inward-looking mentality and "could indeed shape the 21st century international cooperation model".

The effects of the initiative "could be transformational, particularly if it promotes economic, social and environmental sustainability", Xu said.

Ruan Zongze, vice-president of the China Institute of International Studies, said China's latest proposals and the outcomes achieved at the forum show that China's development "brings national interests to itself and brings benefits to other countries as well", and China's proposed solution is having a growing say on the world stage.

Wang Yiwei, a professor of international relations studies at Renmin University of China, said the latest outcomes are being achieved at a time when many of the countries participating in the initiative are introducing industrialization, modernization and infrastructure buildup.

"Since the world economy is still sluggish, the huge production capacity and construction capabilities to be introduced will meet such urgent demands ... and make their people feel more tangible benefits," Wang said.

China's negotiating with participating countries for more bilateral free-trade agreements will help address the current downturn of the globalization process, the professor added.