BEIJING: In the small town of Zhanatas in southern Kazakhstan, a wind farm boasting a capacity of 100 megawatts powers approximately one million Kazakh homes, harnessing clean electricity through its array of 40 wind turbines. This project was put into operation in June 2021, representing one of the pioneering projects co-established by China and Kazakhstan under the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).
Ten years after the BRI was proposed by Chinese President Xi Jinping in 2013, foreign leaders and United Nations (UN) Secretary-General gathered in Beijing for the third Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation (BRF) on Wednesday, marking another significant milestone in the process of jointly building the Belt and Road. At the opening ceremony of the BRF, Xi unveiled eight major steps to bring Belt and Road cooperation to a new stage of higher-quality and higher-level development. He stressed that China will speed up high-quality development of China-Europe Railway Express and, together with other parties, build a new logistics corridor across the Eurasian continent linked by direct railway and road transportation.
Also, China will enter into free trade agreements and investment protection treaties with more countries and remove all restrictions on foreign investment access in the manufacturing sector, Xi said.
In addition, the president pledged more commitment into green development, scientific and technological innovation, people-to-people exchanges, integrity-based Belt and Road cooperation, and the institutional building for international Belt and Road cooperation.
“It was an inspiring speech. It delivered clear messages on the future of the Belt and Road cooperation and how China’s robust economic growth will benefit the world as well as foreign investors like us,” said Atakan Bozkurt, chief executive officer of Burger King China.
During the BRF, a total of 458 outcomes were achieved, including a series of international cooperation proposals, multilateral cooperation outcome documents, practical cooperation projects and bilateral cooperation agreements.
At the high-level forums on Wednesday, China and its partner countries announced multiple cooperative programs on connectivity, green development and digital economy.
To promote multidimensional Belt and Road connectivity network, a set of collaboration agreements in the infrastructure sector was released. –The Daily Mail-China Daily news exchange item
