Hu Biliang: What Do You Think of the Short, Medium and Long Term Development of the “Belt and Road” Initiative? What Should We Do About Them?

Source: World Finance Forum (WFF)

Published: 2021-06-24

“Why is the ‘Belt and Road Initiative (BRI)’ so adversely regarded by some countries now? It is because many people have expanded the boundary of the BRI too much for different purposes. In fact, the BRI does not have so broad boundary. It is mainly about infrastructure” , said by Hu Biliang, an academic member of WFF and Executive Director of the Belt and Road School of Beijing Normal University, who was invited to make a key-note speech at an international financial cooperation forum on the “Belt and Road Initiative” in Xi’an on 12 May 2021. The forum was jointly sponsored by the World Finance Forum (WFF) and Shaanxi Provincial People’s Government, organized by Shaanxi Provincial Local Finance Supervision and Administration Bureau and Shaanxi Provincial Convention and Exhibition Center, and co-organized by Shaanxi Financial Asset Management Co., Ltd.

Hu stressed that in the eight years since the launch of BRI, the institutional framework for jointly building the the Belt and Road has basically been established. The BRI serves as a practical platform to build a community with a shared future for mankind, which is its ultimate goal. Its principle is “mutual consultation, construction and sharing”; Its basic concept is “open, green and clean”. It aims for high standards, people’s welfare and sustainable development.

Talking about the future of the BRI, Hu indicated that in the short term, the first thing to do is to jointly build the BRI international anti-pandemic cooperation platform. In the next two or three years, it will focus on working with a group of countries to collaboratively fight against the epidemic disease and establish the international anti-pandemic cooperation platform, such as vaccine production, protective equipment production and drug production. The key is to save people’s life!

Hu said that the current dispute over the BRI lies in the fact that many people tend to link it with geopolitical issues, politics and cultural output, but the BRI is not for that. If the BRI could be condensed to a point, it is actually an infrastructure initiative. There should be no dispute over infrastructure construction if BRI is mainly intended for infrastructure. At present, there is a great demand for infrastructure construction all over the world. China has strong capacity and cost-effective performance in this regard. Why is it wrong for China to go global and build infrastructure for the world under the BRI? Why should China be criticized and blamed for that? Under the med-term plan of the BRI, its main tasks are to assist related countries for their infrastructure construction on a large scale.

Hu pointed out that in the mid-term, the BRI will mainly do two things: First, infrastructure; Second, the value chain. According to the research of the world bank, by 2040, the world needs $94 trillion in infrastructure investment, with an annual shortage of $800 billion. The demand is very strong. If the BRI could be condensed to a point, it is actually an infrastructure initiative. Why is the ‘Belt and Road Initiative (BRI)’ so adversely treated by some countries now? It is because many people have expanded the boundary of the BRI too much for different purposes. In fact, the BRI does not have a so broad boundary. It is mainly about infrastructure.

Hu indicated that for a long time, influenced by the centre-periphery theory, everyone thinks that the center refers to Europe and the United States, but the world is so big and global development and changes are so great that one center is not enough. All countries demand a better life for their people, and the United States and Europe alone cannot provide it. The United States, Europe and China should work together to build a global value system. The United States and Europe, at the high end of the value chain, should build a set of value systems with Japan, South Korea and China at the middle part. It is entirely reasonable for China to build a new value system at the low end and middle part with Africa, Latin America and Central Asia. China builds a value system, then reorganizes and integrates it with that of the United States and Europe to form a global value system. The systems of industrial chain and value chain are the two things the BRI needs to do in its mid-term plan.

Hu concluded that the long-term and ultimate goal of the BRI is to build a community of shared future for mankind so that people all over the world can live a happy life. According to our research, if globalization continues to advance and the industrial chain and value chain continue to develop in this way led by the BRI, by 2050, there will be no poor countries in the world, and there will be no poor people in the world. This is the goal of achieving common prosperity and the basic concept of China’s BRI. It reflects the bright prospect of “all under heaven being of one family with great harmony” that Chinese traditional culture cherishes.