Full text of Liu Qibao's speech: Promoting mutual understanding and realizing win-win cooperation

Liu Qibao, head of the CPC Central Committee's Publicity Department, delivered a keynote speech at the opening ceremony of the International Seminar on the Belt and Road Initiative, under the theme of "Shared Memory, Common Development," which opened in Xi'an on Sept. 26.

Liu Qibao (left), head of the Publicity Department of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, attends the Dialogue with Sinologists in Australia in Sydney, Australia, May 27, 2016. [Photo by Zou Hong/chinadaily.com.cn]

Your Excellencies Paroubek and Kolodko,

Distinguished guests,

Friends,

Ladies and gentlemen,

In this golden autumn, it is a great pleasure to meet friends from afar here in the ancient city Xi'an. Let me begin by expressing sincere gratitude to our guests at the seminar and our warm welcome to friends who have traveled all the way to China.

In the autumn of 2013, Chinese President Xi Jinping proposed the collaborative building of the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road when he visited Central Asia and Southeast Asia. This has been met with strong response from the international community and particularly from the countries along the Belt and Road. It has also triggered enthusiasm and interest among many countries to explore and participate in the initiative. In order to help people better understand the initiative and engage in the building of the Belt and Road, the State Council Information Office held international seminars at the Silk Road Economic Belt in Urumqi, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, in 2014, and at the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road in Quanzhou, southeast China's Fujian Province, in 2015. This year, we put the two topics into one seminar, hoping to provide a wider platform for exchange and discussion. Here today, to my great pleasure, I have the chance to meet many old friends and also get to know many new ones.

The theme of this seminar -- Shared Memory, Common Development -- embodies our efforts in treasuring historical legacy, our best wishes to the common prosperity of countries along the routes and acknowledgement of our responsibility to world peace and development. More than 300 guests from 35 countries are gathered here today. It is a great event for discussing the grand projects of the Belt and Road Initiative. I believe, through in-depth discussion and exchange of wisdom from all participants from various fields, we shall be able to reach a broad consensus and achieve a prosperous outcome.

Liu Qibao delivers a keynote speech at the opening ceremony of the International Seminar on the Belt and Road Initiative which opened in Xi'an on Sept. 26, 2016.[Photo by Tang Yue/chinadaily.com.cn]

Ladies and gentlemen,

Friends,

Autumn is a season of harvest. We are happy to see that since the Belt and Road Initiative was proposed three years ago, the countries along the routes have carried out increasing cooperation in policy communication, facility, trade and asset connectivity and people-to-people exchanges. As a result, early harvest has been fruitful. A growing number of countries and international organizations have participated in the building of the Belt and Road. China has signed cooperative agreements with more than 30 countries and launched manufacturing and production capacity cooperation with more than 20 countries along the routes. The financial cooperation represented by the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank and the Silk Road Fund is making steady headway. A number of landmark projects are being implemented. People-to-people interactions in the fields of culture, education, science and technology, tourism and commerce are increasing. We should note that outcomes, in terms of speed and scale of the Belt and Road Initiative, have been better than expected. Now, we have a clearer vision on the prospects of this initiative and are more confident in accomplishing it.

First, we see a broadened consensus on the Belt and Road Initiative. There is always a process for one to understand a new concept. With the Belt and Road Initiative, China hopes to share development opportunities with countries along the routes and support the common prosperity of these countries. Currently, the Belt and Road has mostly completed the planning stage and is taking steps of concrete implementation and sustainable development. There is a wider consensus of the international community that the initiative answers the call of our times for peace and development and conforms to the aspiration of relevant countries to speed up development. It will help advance economic growth along the routes and boost global economic prosperity, helping to maintain regional stability and world peace. This has become the impetus for all parties to join in.

Second, we have become more appreciative of the Silk Road spirit. The ancient Silk Road covered thousands of miles and existed for centuries, leaving behind vivid memories of how people along the routes stood together through thick and thin. These memories symbolize the Silk Road spirit of peaceful cooperation, openness and inclusivity, mutual learning and mutual benefits. In the past three years, enlightened by this spirit, people have joined hands, given expression to their creativeness and enthusiasm, promoted connectivity and reciprocal collaboration. The Silk Road spirit has helped guide the building of the Belt and Road and encouraged cohesion among all parties involved. To further push the Belt and Road project forward, we need to stick to and carry on the Silk Road legacy.

Third, it is increasingly visible that the Belt and Road Initiative serves the interests of all parties. As the proposer and promoter of the initiative, China insists on a more balanced approach to upholding principles and pursuing interests and calls for a cooperative principle of equality and mutual benefit. Through joint efforts, the project is well on its way to making remarkable achievements and delivering tangible benefits to the people along the routes. Facts show that the Belt and Road initiative is open, pragmatic and mutually beneficial. It helps find common interest between China and countries along the routes, while addressing their specific needs. It bears the common aspirations of people in the region to live prosperously and combines the Chinese dream with the dreams of those along the routes. All relevant countries need to continue their collaboration of development strategies, seek the common denominator in cooperation and find the point of convergence for all parties. We should make the cake of common interests bigger and bring well-being to all along the Belt and Road.

Fourth, we see greater prospects for win-win cooperation. Building the Belt and Road brings all the countries involved into one big family with shared interests and a shared future. The initiative's positive effects are becoming clearer and the benefits of collaboration along the routes more evident, presenting a picture of heartening prosperity based on joint efforts and shared interests. Experience says that although the countries along the routes have different national situations and development stages, and thus are faced with different challenges, they have a common aspiration for economic growth, a common interest in coping with risks and challenges and the same vision for common development. If we stick to mutual benefit and cooperation, expand scope, raise the levels of cooperation and seize the opportunities presented, we can realize the goal of benefiting all parties concerned.