Good news for SCO

"Silk Road" has become a catchphrase during the Chinese premier's trip to the Central Asian country, where he has planned to attend the 13th prime ministers' meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation and meet with key figures from the other five SCO member states - Russia, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan.

Before the visit, Li subscribed to the Silk Road theme in a signed article published by the Kazakhstanskaya Pravda newspaper on Saturday.

"Over 2,000 years ago, the two countries were linked by the ancient Silk Road, and now the Silk Road Economic Belt initiative enjoys profound historic connotations," Li said.

Vice-Foreign Minister Cheng Guoping said on Friday that the general blueprint for the Silk Road Economic Belt has "basically" taken shape.

Cheng highlighted the Lianyungang joint-venture logistics base and urged enhancing interconnectivity with highways, railways, ports, air routes and oil and gas pipelines.

"China is willing to communicate with all the other SCO members on its respective development strategy and the plan for regional economic cooperation," said Wang Shouwen, assistant commerce minister.

Xi announced in November that China will set up a Silk Road fund worth $40 billion to support infrastructure, resources, industrial and financial cooperation and other projects related to connectivity.

According to Foreign Minister Wang Yi, more than 50 countries along the ancient Silk Road have expressed a willingness to participate in the China-proposed "Belt and Road" initiative, which includes both the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road.

Wang Yiwei, a professor at Renmin University of China in Beijing, said that a range of effective cooperative programs help motivate the countries along the trade route.

This year, discussions were focused on the structure and framework of the Belt and Road, and next year will see more efforts to iron out the details to achieve such a grand connectivity, Wang said.

Xinhua contributed to this story.

zhangyunbi@chinadaily.com.cn