State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi addresses the opening
ceremony of the Fifth Silk Road International Exposition and the
Investment and Trade Forum for Cooperation between East and West China
via video link in Xi'an, capital city of Northwest China's Shaanxi
province on May 11, 2021. [Photo/Xinhua] State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi highlighted on Tuesday
the importance of Belt and Road cooperation against the backdrop of the
ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and said China's new development paradigm will
provide greater momentum and more development opportunities for the
world. Wang made the remark as he delivered a speech via video link at the
opening ceremony of the fifth Silk Road International Exposition and the
Investment and Trade Forum for Cooperation between East and West China
in Xi'an, Shaanxi province. BRI cooperation is becoming a model for protecting people's safety
and well-being, restoring economic and social activities and unleashing
development potential, he said. Highlighting the importance of promoting public health cooperation
amid the pandemic, Wang said partners involved in the BRI should share
information and carry out joint prevention and control measures against
the virus. He also stressed stepping up international cooperation on the
research and development of vaccines, as well as their production and
distribution, in order to make them accessible and affordable for
developing countries. China has been working closely with BRI partners in terms of
developing vaccines. For example, Chinese companies have carried out
phase-3 clinical trials of COVID-19 vaccines in Russia, Egypt,
Indonesia, Pakistan and the United Arab Emirates. So far, China has signed BRI cooperation documents with 140 countries
and 31 international organizations, and a large number of projects have
been carried out. Despite the impact of COVID-19, China and BRI
partners including Central Asian countries have witnessed growth in
trade and investment since last year. The trade volume of commodities between China and BRI-related
countries was $1.4 trillion last year, a year-on-year increase of 0.7
percent, according to the Ministry of Commerce. To promote the BRI's high-quality development, Wang called for
efforts among partner countries to improve interconnectivity in terms of
the fast exchange of personnel and commodities amid the pandemic,
infrastructure construction, the harmonization of rules and regulations,
and the digital sector. He underlined the importance of BRI partners upholding the
multilateral trading system, pushing forward the construction of free
trade zones, building an open world economy and speeding up cooperation
in emerging areas such as cross-border e-commerce. Partner countries should also pay attention to green development by
finding a path forward for people and nature to live in harmony, Wang
said, calling for more green cooperation in the infrastructure, energy
and finance sectors in order to contribute to sustainable development. Officials from Slovakia, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and
Uzbekistan also attended the opening ceremony and gave speeches. They all spoke highly of the achievements in the joint building of
BRI and called for deeper cooperation with China in areas including
international anti-pandemic efforts under the BRI framework in order to
boost world economic recovery.
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