Yearender: China builds more amicable, vibrant neighborhood with Belt and Road Initiative

With the formal establishment of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank on Christmas Day, China's drive to advance the Belt and Road Initiative is wrapping up a year of fruitful progress, particularly in its neighborhood.

The Belt and Road Initiative, which comprises the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, was brought up by Chinese President Xi Jinping in 2013, with the aim of building a trade and infrastructure network connecting Asia with Europe and Africa along the ancient Silk Road routes.

The vision, once realized, will directly benefit 4.4 billion people, or 63 percent of the global population.

So far, over 60 countries and international organizations have expressed interest in active involvement in the construction of the Belt and the Road, while a number of major bilateral and multilateral projects have been under way.

As many of China's neighbors are located along the routes, they will be not only primary partners of cooperation, but also major beneficiaries of the initiative, which fully embodies the fundamental principles of Beijing's neighborhood diplomacy: amity, sincerity, mutual benefit and inclusiveness.

A CHORUS, NOT A SOLO

Since the formulation of the Belt and Road Initiative, especially since the beginning of this year, Chinese leaders have been working hard to align the vision with the development strategies of its neighbors, such as the Russia-led Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) and the ASEAN Community, so as to promote common development and win-win cooperation.

Noting that the initiative will not be a solo for China but a real chorus of all countries along the routes, Xi said in March that it will serve the common interests of relevant parties and answer the call of the times for regional and global cooperation.

Countries across the region have reacted positively to China's proposals.

Pakistan, which lifted its ties with China to an all-weather strategic partnership of cooperation during a visit by Xi in April, was among the first to join the framework, pledging to participate in the building of an economic corridor linking its Gwadar Port in the southwest to China's northwestern autonomous region of Xinjiang.

The two countries have agreed to form a "1+4" cooperation structure -- with the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) at the center and the Gwadar Port, transport infrastructure, energy and industrial cooperation being the four key areas -- to achieve win-win results and common development.

Amanullah Khan, chairman of the Pakistan-China Business and Investment Promotion Committee, said that since Xi put forward the Belt and Road Initiative, the region has seen a new wave of economic development.

"The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, a pioneer project under the initiative, has provided a powerful boost to Pakistan's economy," Khan said. "China's investment in Pakistan's energy and infrastructure also bolstered foreign investors' confidence in the Southern Asian country."

ALIGNMENT WITH EEU

In the Eurasian region, most of China's neighbors have expressed willingness to link their own development strategies with the Belt and Road Initiative.

Russia, a comprehensive strategic partner of coordination to China, has agreed to integrate its aspirations under the EEU framework, whose main objective is to form a single market within the borders of its member countries by 2025, with the Silk Road Economic Belt proposal.

During Xi's visit to Russia in May, Xi and Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a joint statement on the alignment of the Silk Road Economic Belt and the EEU.

Observers said the joint statement, another major development of the Belt and Road Initiative in Eurasia, is of important and far-reaching significance to the economic growth in the region and the world at large.

During a summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) in Russia's Ufa in July, Xi and Putin agreed to regard the regional bloc as an important platform to dovetail the Silk Road Economic Belt plan with the EEU blueprint.

Mars Saliev, a Kyrgyz political analyst, said he believes that the Belt and Road Initiative would provide a powerful boost to the economic development of SCO members.

Recalling that over the past years Kyrgyzstan has transported a large quantity of goods from China to other SCO members and even European countries, he said the Belt and Road Initiative offers Kyrgyzstan new opportunities to become a major transit center in Eurasia.

If the railway project between China and Kyrgyzstan is successfully implemented, the Central Asian country will obtain a convenient route through Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan to Europe, the analyst said.

HUGE POTENTIAL FOR ASEAN'S DEVELOPMENT

Following the announcement of the Silk Road Economic Belt initiative in Kazakhstan in September 2013, Xi traveled to southeast Asia a month later and unveiled the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road initiative to strengthen regional infrastructure and trade with countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

Infrastructure construction and inter-connectivity enhancement within ASEAN are essential to the bloc's goal of building an economic community and creating a competitive market of over 600 million people with free flow of goods, services, investment capital and skilled labor.

As the Belt and Road Initiative meets the demand of ASEAN countries and has huge potential in fueling the bloc's development, it has noticeably propelled healthy development of China's relations with its southeast Asian neighbors.

In November, Xi paid his first visits to Vietnam and Singapore, two key ASEAN countries, since he became Chinese president in 2013.

During the visits, China and Vietnam signed an agreement on studying the feasibility of a railway program in northern Vietnam within the frameworks of China's Belt and Road Initiative and Vietnam's Two Corridors and One Economic Circle plan.

In an address at the National University of Singapore, Xi said China's neighboring countries are the primary cooperation partners under the Belt and Road Initiative and should be the first to enjoy the benefits from it.

Asanga Abeyagoonasekera, an advisor to the finance minister of Sri Lanka, said at the 2nd ASEAN Development Forum earlier this month that the China-proposed initiative is dedicated to development, cooperation and openness, and characterized by equality and mutual benefit on the basis of consultation, cooperation and sharing.

In particular, the least developed countries and developing countries will benefit substantially from the initiative, he said.

NEW BRIDGE FOR COOPERATION, COMMON DEVELOPMENT

Asanga cited his country as an example, saying Sri Lanka's first highways and many other infrastructure projects have been built with China's assistance, from which his nation has benefited immensely.

"China's Belt and Road Initiative will assist the entire global trade, benefit all countries, and improve the living conditions of people in Asia, Africa and Europe," he said.

Like Sri Lankans, Laotians in Si Phan Don, a riverine archipelago in the Mekong River in Champasak Province in the south of the Southeast Asian country, have also greatly benefited from the enhanced infrastructure cooperation with China.

For the thousands of residents living on some of the larger islands there, they had suffered chronic shortage of daily supplies for decades due to inconvenient transportation.

Thanks to a bridge built by a Chinese company, residents of Don Khong, the largest island in the area, are now able to travel in buses and cars to the provincial capital of Pakse, much safer and faster than riding ferries.

"The bridge has brought tangible changes to my life," said a middle-aged restaurant owner who identified himself as Malaikhan.

"Now we could buy almost all we need here, and the prices are much cheaper, perhaps 30 percent to 50 percent lower than they used to be," he said.

With a beaming smile on his face, the man said he bought a car after the bridge was open to traffic in 2014. "I heard the Chinese company will build a second bridge linking the island with the west bank of Mekong. I will definitely drive to Cambodia if the new bridge opens," he said.

According to Soukaseum Pakdimanivong, head of the Transportation Bureau in Champasak Province, the planned construction of the bridge will not only be a powerful boost to the tourism industry of both Laos and Cambodia, but also bear great significance to inter-connectivity within ASEAN. Endi