Baku, April 28, AZERTAC

Themed "Belt and Road, Shared Future," the sixth edition of Vision China, a series of talks organized by China Daily, was held at Beijing Language and Culture University in Beijing on Saturday, China Daily reports.

During the event, four speakers, from China and abroad, shared their opinions on high-quality development under the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). They also explored how and why the initiative is nudging global governance toward fairness, inclusivity, mutual benefit, and multilateralism.

Weng Jieming, vice-chairman of the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council, said in the opening remarks that China's State-owned enterprises have actively participated in BRI over the past six years, yielding impressive results in infrastructure connectivity.

"For further development, the State-owned enterprises will continue to focus on better outcomes under the BRI, by abiding by the values of human progress and providing service with integrity during project constructions," Weng said. He also called for more university students, who formed the majority of the Vision China audience, to participate in BRI projects in their future careers.

Vision China's sixth edition brought together international think tanks, policymakers, trade professionals, as well as university students. The event aimed to tell the stories of BRI from multiple perspectives and in a wider global context.

The event aligned with the second Belt and Road Forum (BRF) for International Cooperation, which was held from Thursday to Saturday. The three-day event convened nearly 40 heads of state or government, along with about 5,000 participants from more than 150 countries and 90 international organizations.

Addressing nearly 1,000 attendees at Vision China, Zhao Jianguo, director general of the International Communication Bureau of Publicity Department of the CPC Central Committee, said President Xi Jinping's keynote speech at the second Belt and Road forum showed China's determination and pragmatism in further deepening reform and opening-up in the new era.

Zhao shared three points on BRI cooperation. First, BRI needs to build consensus while upholding the spirit of extensive consultation, joint contributions, and shared benefits. Second, it needs to involve think tanks from around the globe, which have already been driving forces for the initiative. Third, it needs a youthful injection of will and spirit.

The BRI plays an important role in the practice of building a community of shared future for mankind, said guest speaker Zhao Baige, chairperson of the Advisory Committee of the Belt and Road International Think Tank at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

For further high-quality, sustainable development of BRI, Zhao proposed three suggestions: respecting laws and regulations; taking a people-centered approach; ensuring BRI projects' fiscal sustainability.

The idea of joining BRI was well received in Serbia, said Ivona Ladjevac, head of the center for the Belt & Road at the Institute of International Politics and Economics in Belgrade, adding that the initiative is an "open, inclusive platform for development".

Ladjevac delivered a speech on the mutually beneficial relationship between BRI and cooperation between China and Central and Eastern European Countries. "These frameworks will further enhance China-EU cooperation in a wide range of areas," she added.

Ladjevac was joined by speakers Hannah Ryder, Development Reimagined CEO and former United Nations Development Programme policy and partnerships head, and Andreas Pierotic, trade commissioner of Embassy of Chile in China.

They both provided insights into the BRI, ranging from mechanisms for third-party cooperation to Latin America's opportunities in the new form of global economy in the 21st century.

BRI will become the "main pillar between China and the Latin America region", said Pierotic, adding that it will not only improve unimpeded trade, but also boost the finance connectivity, logistics connectivity, people-to-people connectivity.

Ni Haidong, Party chief of Beijing Language and Culture University, also attended the event.

The event ended with enthusiastic applause, having turned out to be a timely platform for attendees to exchange ideas on the outcomes of BRF, which concluded the same day.

Vision China was established January 2018. By inviting well-known political, business and academic speakers to tell China's story from global perspectives and discuss major global topics, it aims to become a broad platform to ensure China's voice is better heard in the new era as well as to build a new channel for responding to global concerns on hot China-related issues through profound debate.