Xi's counsel called key for Belt and Road

Vice-Premier Zhang Gaoli has called for more practical efforts to implement President Xi Jinping's important instructions on building the Belt and Road into a new platform for international cooperation.

Zhang made the remark in a speech at a meeting that focused on pushing forward the building of the Belt and Road held in Beijing on Tuesday.

During the meeting, presided over by Zhang, officials studied and implemented the spirit of the Communist Party of China's 19th National Congress and the Central Economic Work Conference, carried out the important instructions of Xi, and summed up the advances in the Belt and Road.

The officials also discussed related documents and arranged the major tasks for the future. Wang Huning, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, also attended.

The CPC Central Committee and the State Council consider the building of the Belt and Road to be of great importance, Zhang said, mentioning Xi's words and instructions on proactively pushing Belt and Road cooperation.

In the report delivered at the 19th National Congress in October, Xi pledged to actively promote international cooperation through the Belt and Road Initiative.

"We hope to achieve policy, infrastructure, trade, financial and people-to-people connectivity and thus build a new platform for international cooperation to create new drivers of shared development," Xi said in his report.

Zhang also noted the requirement of Premier Li Keqiang to uphold the guide of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, stick to the basic principle of seeking progress while maintaining stability, and push Belt and Road projects to achieve more progress.

Zhang urged more effort to reach wider consensus on jointly building the Belt and Road, boost interconnectivity, push the connection of both infrastructure and policies as well as standards, upgrade economic and investment cooperation, deepen international capacity production cooperation, and innovate in finance to improve services.

He also highlighted fulfilling social responsibilities, protecting the environment, preventing risks and enhancing security guarantees of Belt and Road projects.