Belt and Road Initiative's vitality stems from its inclusiveness: China Daily editorial

State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi presided over the High-level Video Conference on Belt and Road International Cooperation in the Asia-Pacific on Wednesday.

Focusing on COVID-19 prevention and control cooperation in the region and the region's economic recovery, the conference provided a platform for the representatives of more than 30 countries and international organizations to pool their wisdom in addressing the challenges the region faces.

In all, 140 countries and 32 international organizations are participating in the Belt and Road Initiative, highlighting the great significance attached to it. With plentiful substantial achievements having been made since it was proposed in 2013, the initiative has provided the world with many global public products that manifest practical progress toward the realization of the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals.

The outbreak of the novel coronavirus has served to highlight the initiative's practical benefits, as it has prompted countries to work together to protect public health and promote common development. Not only are essential medical supplies provided under the framework through mutual assistance programs but also the participants have never ceased their intensive exchanges on epidemic prevention and control work, and macro policy coordination. That demonstrates the vitality of the Belt and Road Initiative, which is an open and inclusive multilateral platform.

As Wang proposed in the conference, the quality of Belt and Road cooperation projects will be higher in the future, and although infrastructure constructions remain crucial, more attention will be paid to strengthen public health collaboration and ensure the reliability and security of supply chains, and enhance cooperation in innovation, technology and green development.

The active responses these proposals have received from the other participants in the conference reflect that they are highly consistent with the appeals of all countries in the region, which are looking to get their socioeconomic development back on the right track at an early date, build more responsive and efficient public health systems, and develop new growth engines through international cooperation.

Unlike the Build Back Better World initiative the United States proposed at the G7 Summit earlier this month, the Belt and Road Initiative starts from the practical needs of the participants rather than any single country's geopolitical ambitions. Functioning on the basis of joint construction, collective consultation and benefit sharing, instead of one participant telling the others what to do, it produces tangible benefits for the people.

It is the common will of the people in the region working together for a better world that enables the Belt and Road Initiative to stand the tests of such grave challenges as the COVID-19 pandemic, and continuously demonstrate robust vitality and strong adaptability.