May 13-14, 2017 9\
COMMENT\
OPINION\
ChinaDaily\
chinadaily.com.cn/opinion\
Jean Pierre Raffarin and Xu Gai\
A new growth point\
for world economy\
In Europe, the Belt and Road Initiative does not\
get the attention it deserves. However, the history\
of the ancient Silk Road has fed our imagination\
for centuries. Today, China speaks for reality\
while Europe is limiting itself to curiosity. But newly\
elected French President Emmanuel Macron can accelerate\
Europe’s interest in the initiative.\
President Xi Jinping surprised the rest of the world\
when he announced the Belt and Road Initiative. As\
often happens in China, the idea is the result of a deep\
strategic reflection.\
China is seeking big markets for its industrial products.\
Marginal gains of globalization are shrinking,\
and growth needs a new revival. In Asia, this new\
revival is called connectivity. By helping the economies\
along the Belt and Road routes to develop and\
improve their infrastructure, hard and soft, China is\
reinforcing its openness and the upgrading of its\
manufacturing sector.\
The initiative will also help the internationalization\
of its currency and, in the long run, the transformation\
of its growth toward quality.\
Europe should find interest in this. Under the initiative,\
cooperation with China on its two aisles, Eurasia\
and “Eurafrica”, can allow the European Union to\
reach its economic growth and employment targets.\
That big geostrategic region must become “a community\
of interests, of responsibility and common fate”.\
As Premier Li Keqiang has often said, “today, no\
nation can succeed alone”. Therefore we must invent\
international engaging projects. This perspective is\
definitely pacifist. And by serving development and\
prosperity, it serves peace.\
China’s analysis needs to be studied. In the past, the East\
was the place where goods were born, and the West where\
they matured. Today, the West is standing still or even\
going backward while the East initiates reforms.\
Asian dynamics must reach Europe. As a country of\
new technologies, France is ready. Its interest is even\
more relevant since the United States has become\
more unpredictable and is turning toward the Asia-Pacific\
region while ignoring Europe.\
Eurasia is the future global balancing power. In the\
initiative, Europe can find a historical opportunity to\
put itself into a more central world position. So, is this\
the time to redefine transatlantic relations?\
For China, the West-led globalization has created\
harsh competitions, partly destructive. It points to civilizations\
moving backward, for example, by giving rise\
to populism in the West and Brexit. That is why the\
election of Macron as French president sends a message\
of trust and hope.\
Eurasia, marked by great civilizations such as Egyptian,\
Babylonian, Greek, Indian and Chinese, can be\
the place of rebirth of civilization. And oceans must\
again find a place in this civilization.\
The Belt and Road Initiative, like other innovative\
21st century ideas, is not speculative or virtual. Huge\
financial means and multilateral tools have been\
invested to give shape to the initiative, which will\
reform global governance.\
The Asian Infrastructure and Investment Bank will\
definitely leverage growth for Eurasian economies.\
And the initiative, BRICS New Development Bank and\
the Silk Road Fund all show that China has the power\
to realize its vision.\
In the next five years, China will import \$10 trillion\
worth of goods and invest more than \$500 billion\
abroad. The current pace is faster than the 13th Five-\
Year Plan (2016-20) forecast. For the first time this year,\
Chinese investments abroad have exceeded foreign\
investments in China.\
France is following the initiative with interest, and\
must realize that it directly touches its interests and\
alliances. This is a great opportunity for the new\
French president.\
By choosing a message of openness, the French people\
have shown they are open to great adventures that\
serve development, hence peace.\
Jean Pierre Raffarin is former prime minister of\
France and president of the Senate’s Foreign Affairs,\
Military and Defense Commission, and Xu Gai is his\
advisor on China affairs.\
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Yang Yanyi\
Together we can make a difference\
Robert Lawrence Kuhn\
Initiative marks transition of grand vision\
The Belt and Road\
Forum for International\
Cooperation\
marks a transition of\
high symbolism in President\
Xi Jinping’s grand vision for a\
new era of win-win globalization.\
The core idea is to structure,\
finance and build critical\
infrastructure in developing\
economies, as well as diversify\
and expand the Chinese economy,\
which needs restructuring.\
This is the fourth Belt and\
Road forum I will attend.\
Xi announced the Silk Road\
Economic Belt as a “grand\
cause benefiting people in\
regional countries along the\
ancient route” in Kazakhstan in\
September 2013. In June 2014, I was\
asked to articulate the vision at the first\
Belt and Road forum in Urumqi, Northwest\
China’s Xinjiang Uygur autonomous\
region. I described five categories:\
history, culture, trade, mutual development\
and peaceful development.\
The second forum was in Quanzhou,\
Southeast China’s Fujian province, in\
February 2015. It enlarged the vision to\
include the 21st Century Maritime Silk\
Road, engaging Southeast Asia, South\
Asia, the Middle East and East Africa.\
The third forum was held in Xi’an,\
Northwest China’s Shaanxi province, in\
September 2016, with the theme “Shared\
Memory, Common Development”.\
To comprehend Xi’s Belt and Road Initiative,\
one must appreciate globalization,\
which is founded on the perennial\
law of comparative economic advantage\
Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber\
but which is suffering discontent due to\
its differential impact on workers in\
Western countries. In a reversal of historic\
proportions, China now champions\
globalization, while the United States is\
now conflicted with “America First” protectionism.\
China’s developmental miracle is\
founded on globalization, as Chinese\
workers made China the low-cost manufacturing\
center of the world.\
But China’s old model no longer works\
— for one, workers must be paid higher\
salaries to rebalance severe socio-economic\
imbalances. China must develop\
new modes of globalization, leveraging\
its expertise and experience, especially in\
infrastructure construction, which is just\
what the developing economies need for\
their development.\
The initiative is to expand links\
between Asia, Africa and Europe, and\
thus reduce imbalances in national\
development and promote global economic\
growth. It focuses on projects such\
as high-speed railways. Development\
comes first, China believes; nothing good\
can happen without economic growth.\
The Beijing forum seeks consensus on\
major cross-regional projects, especially\
networks of roads, railways and shipping.\
At the Xi’an forum, I chaired a session\
(on the media), which was held at precisely\
the same time as the first debate\
between US presidential candidates\
Donald Trump and Hillary\
Clinton.\
“One hundred years from\
today,” I began, “when the history\
of our times is written, our forum\
on the Belt and Road (Initiative)\
will carry more significance than\
the Trump-Clinton debate.”\
I was joking in one sense, but\
not in another. Why is the initiative\
so significant?\
From the global perspective,\
poverty, under-development, and\
vast inequalities are deep, seemingly\
intractable problems — and\
economic development, catalyzed\
by infrastructure construction,\
is an essential part of the\
solutions.\
From China’s perspective, after\
decades of remarkable growth, economic\
transformation is necessary, and\
this includes geographical rebalancing\
within China and expanding China’s\
trade by enhancing globalization.\
All of these can be achieved by the initiative,\
but only if formulated synergistically\
and implemented assiduously.\
There are substantial challenges, of\
course — economic, financial, structural,\
political instability, nationalism, terrorism\
and, in certain circles, suspicion of\
China’s motives.\
But for sure, the world has great need\
and China has a grand plan in the Belt\
and Road Initiative.\
The author is a public intellectual, political/economics\
commentator, and international\
corporate strategist.\
Building a bridge to our common future\
The Belt and Road Forum for\
International Cooperation to\
be held in Beijing on Sunday\
and Monday will see the participation\
of some 1,500 officials, scholars,\
entrepreneurs from more than 130\
countries, and representatives from more\
than 70 international organizations. Of\
the 29 heads of state and government\
who will participate in the forum, quite a\
few are from Europe. European Commission\
Vice-President Jyrki Katainen, too,\
will take part in the forum.\
At a time when the global economic\
recovery is still sluggish, trade and investment\
remains weak, and growth impetus\
unstable, the forum offers an excellent\
opportunity to review the gains and,\
more importantly, to build a closer and\
stronger partnership.\
China and the European Union share\
much in common in pursuing shared\
growth, development and connectivity,\
including through the Belt and Road Initiative,\
and have come up with a proud\
record so far.\
At the 17th China-EU Summit in 2015,\
China and the EU agreed to synergize the\
initiative and the Investment Plan for\
Europe. China and some EU countries\
have signed inter-governmental cooperation\
agreements and launched a Belt and\
Road working group mechanism to jointly\
advance the initiative. Also, China and\
16 Central and Eastern European countries\
have worked closely to enhance\
cooperation under the Belt and Road Initiative\
and the 16+1 framework.\
As concrete steps to promote seamless\
traffic flows, China and the EU signed an\
MOU for the establishment of a “Connectivity\
Platform”. China has launched railway\
freight service to some European\
countries. And cooperation in such areas\
as railways, ports, airports, power, transportation\
and logistics has gathered\
momentum.\
The two sides are also working\
together to deepen dialogue and cooperation\
in information and communications\
technology.\
To develop practical financial avenues\
for mutually beneficial cooperation, China\
and the EU agreed to set up a co-investment\
fund. And early this year,\
China became the 67th member of the\
European Bank of Reconstruction and\
Development.\
The Beijing forum has now raised the\
two sides’ interest in exploring potential\
areas of cooperation to create fresh energy\
for pursuing interconnected development.\
To contribute to the ongoing\
efforts and deliberations, here are my\
suggestions.\
First, the Belt and Road Initiative is\
The Belt and Road Forum for\
International Cooperation in\
Beijing is a milestone in the\
development of China’s Belt\
and Road Initiative, a historic effort to\
transform the economies along the two\
routes, strengthen links between them\
and better connect them to the rest of\
the world. The United Arab Emirates\
strongly supports the initiative, which\
will foster economic growth and security\
both regionally and globally.\
Substantial progress has been made\
since President Xi Jinping announced\
the initiative in 2013. During this period,\
China has directly invested more than\
\$50 billion and helped establish the\
Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank —\
a new multilateral institution designed\
to finance vital public works in Asia’s\
emerging economies. The UAE is a\
founding member of the AIIB and committed\
to its central mission of bringing\
the Belt and Road Initiative vision to life.\
China’s approach to economic development\
mirrors our own. We share the\
same core beliefs in the essential connection\
between trade, peace and prosperity.\
For both our peoples, these beliefs\
go beyond stated principles to concrete\
actions, best expressed by the strength\
of our bilateral trade, which has grown\
dramatically — almost 800 times, in the\
three decades since we established formal\
relations — from \$63 million in\
1984 to more than \$50 billion in 2016.\
Our cultural and economic ties with\
China go back centuries. But today’s\
trade spans multiple sectors, with one of\
the most important being energy.\
Recognizing that energy demand in\
the economies along the Belt and Road\
routes will grow by 50 percent by 2040,\
both China and the UAE have made strategic\
co-investment in this sector. China\
National Petroleum Corp and China\
Energy recently took a minority share in\
the UAE’s onshore oil reserves, beginning\
a partnership with the Abu Dhabi\
National Oil Company that will secure oil\
LI MIN / CHINA DAILY\
supplies for decades and ease market\
access for essential and higher value\
products throughout the region.\
ADNOC’s petrochemical company,\
Borouge, is celebrating seven years of\
operations in China during which the\
trading volume has quadrupled. Borouge\
is gearing up for market growth\
both within China and in the economies\
along the Belt and Road routes, where\
demand for petrochemicals and plastic,\
including essential utility piping and\
cable insulation, is expected to more\
than double by 2040.\
At the pivot point between Asia,\
Europe and Africa, the UAE is ideally\
located as a logistical hub that can facilitate\
trade to and from the economies\
along the Belt and Road routes. DP\
World’s Jebel Ali Port is the largest in the\
Middle East and Abu Dhabi Ports Company\
is one of the fastest growing. Last\
year, Abu Dhabi Ports Company partnered\
with China’s shipping giant COS-\
CO to build a new terminal at Khalifa\
guided by the spirit of openness and\
constructive cooperation. Given the rising\
protectionist and anti-globalization\
sentiments in many parts of the world,\
it is in our interest that China and the\
EU stay committed to free trade and\
economic openness, a rules-based,\
transparent and fair international trading\
regime and order, and open up markets,\
oppose protectionism and secure\
greater connectivity and economic\
development and prosperity.\
Second, the initiative is a win-win formula.\
The notion that this project is\
designed to enable China to access new\
markets, which will pose a challenge,\
even “threat”, to the future of Europe is\
wrong, as it neglects the fresh perspectives\
it will bring to European integration.\
Being open, transparent, harmonious and\
inclusive, the initiative is an invitation to\
all economies along the Belt and Road\
routes to build synergies between their\
development strategies and the initiative,\
explore cooperation, and share the benefits\
of the projects.\
Third, it is time that China and the\
EU capitalized on the new opportunities\
offered by the initiative. Among others,\
China wishes to broaden policy\
coordination and advance cooperation\
consensus through an institutionalized\
dialogue mechanism, more closely collaborate\
on concrete projects within the\
China-EU Connectivity Platform, work\
closely to explore ways and means of\
joint financing and initiating projects,\
and deepen China-EU legal affairs dialogue\
with a view to creating a favorable\
environment for business.\
We are more than ready to add new\
dimensions to our cooperation with the\
EU. For instance, given that China is\
transforming its economic development\
model based on innovation, and innovation\
remains essential to European integration,\
we should make deepening\
cooperation in science and technology\
and innovation our top priority.\
And fourth, we hope that at the Beijing\
forum and the 19th China-EU Summit,\
China and the EU will send out this\
positive message: as the two parties\
vital to the maintenance of world peace\
and promotion of common development\
and shared destiny, China and the\
EU will shoulder the shared responsibility\
of promoting the construction of a\
more fair, reasonable and balanced\
global governance system based on\
openness, inclusiveness and win-win\
cooperation, and that together we can\
make a difference.\
The author is the head of the Chinese\
Mission to the European Union.\
Port that will double cargo capacity, further\
expanding the flow of commerce\
among the economies along the Belt\
and Road routes and the world’s other\
major trading blocs. As many economies\
along the two routes look to extend their\
footprint in Africa, the UAE represents a\
natural nexus for developing mutually\
beneficial trading links.\
The 65 economies along the two routes\
account for 30 percent of global GDP. By\
2040, they will account for almost twothirds,\
thereby becoming the world’s\
most significant driver of economic\
growth. Making the right investments\
now will ensure this growth remains sustainable\
and more evenly spread.\
In short, the success of the Belt and\
Road Initiative can provide the foundation\
for a more secure, prosperous and\
progressive future for the world.\
The author is a minister of state in the\
United Arab Emirates and ADNOC\
Group CEO.