The Belt and Road Forum for Media Cooperation 2017 was held in Dunhuang in northwest China’s Gansu Province on September 19. Over the past four years, the international influence of the Belt and Road Initiative has become increasingly apparent. From a “China initiative” to an “international action,” from a “China concept” to an “international consensus,” from a “China solution” to a mover of “global governance,” the Belt and Road is bringing the world abundant opportunities.

Infrastructure is the basis of economic development. By advocating infrastructure connectivity, the Belt and Road is improving upon the concept of globalization and guiding investment policies across the world’s economy. It is helping eliminate the source of the global financial crisis so that globalization will benefit more people.

To push the world out of the global financial crisis. Chinese President Xi Jinping has said that the people of all countries are welcome to board the bullet train of China’s development. By 2050, according to the US consulting firm McKinsey, the building of Belt and Road will contribute to 80 percent of the world’s economic growth and add three billion people to the ranks of the global middle class. Trade is expected to increase by 2.5 trillion US dollars in the next decade.

The point of the Belt and Road Initiative is to solve world development issues in the model of  China’s development. To build a green Silk Road, a healthy Silk Road, an intelligent Silk Road and a peaceful Silk Road is to promote the transformation of human production, as well as the ways people live and think, all while building a community of shared destiny for all mankind. (The author is director of the Institute of International Affairs at China’s Renmin University. This article is originally published on People’s Daily overseas edition and is abridged for use here)