11 facts you should know about the vision

The China-led development initiative aims to boost economic growth for all involved and promote a more balanced world order

1. The Belt and Road Initiative is not a modern version of the US' Marshall Plan.

Mei Xinyu, a researcher of international trade and economics at the Ministry of Commerce's Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation / CHINA DAILY

China has no intention of challenging the current US-dominated global economic and political systems, and its Belt and Road Initiative－the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road－is by no means comparable to the United States' Marshall Plan, which is considered, to some extent, to have led to the Cold War.

Although China is promoting a series of bilateral and regional free trade agreements, its objective is not similar to the British Empire's pre-World War II "Imperial Preference", and is not to create a world market parallel to that led by the US.

The US-led international financial system is unfair, but it is not in China's interest to change the system. More importantly, any drastic change in the system would create uncertainties and risks, which no economy wants.

China believes in reform, and it is optimistic about making the international financial system more efficient by supplementing the roles of the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank. It knows that only a multilateral trade system can meet its demand for an expanding global market, which is why it has an open mind on many Western-dominated international trade arrangements, while the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank will take an inclusive approach to create an improved international financial system.