In September 2013, Chinese President Xi Jinping, during his visit to Kazakhstan, put forward the initiative to jointly build the Silk Road Economic Belt. In October of the same year, President Xi Jinping proposed to jointly build the “21st Century Maritime Silk Road” in Indonesia. The “One Belt and One Road” initiative, firmly adhering to the spirit of the Silk Road based on the principles of peace and cooperation, openness and inclusiveness, borrowing from each other's mutual benefit, meets the internal requirements of systemic global governance reform, demonstrates the establishment of the Community of the common destiny of mankind, centered on cohesion and shared responsibility. The “One Belt and One Road” initiative has established a platform for international cooperation with broad participation and continuously proposed new ideas and solutions to improve the reform of global governance system, which is generally welcomed by the international community.
Over the past 10 years, the joint construction of “One Belt and One Road”, based on joint discussion, joint construction and joint utilization, whose circle of friends continues to expand, has been continuously enriched and developed in various fields. “One Belt and One Road” has become the world's largest international public good with the largest scale, broadest participation and greatest benefits, and has reached truly solid and serious heights.
Pairing development strategies and broadly deepening political coordination. The “One Belt and One Road” initiative has attracted 152 countries and 32 international organizations to sign more than 200 cooperation documents, and relevant cooperation concepts and proposals have been included in the important outcome documents of many authoritative international organizations.
Strengthening the construction of infrastructures and effectively improving people's quality of life. The cooperation model of “six corridors and six routes, many nations, many ports” has been basically formed, and a large number of mutually beneficial projects such as the Port of Piraeus, the Jakarta-Bandung High-Speed Railway and the Belgrade-Budapest Railway have been successfully realized, benefiting the people of the countries along the route.
Deepening economic and trade cooperation and boosting global economic growth. In 10 years, the total amount of investments under the One Belt and One Road Initiative has already amounted to about one trillion US dollars. The initiative unites participants in the implementation of more than 3000 joint projects, creating 420 thousand jobs, which has helped lift about 40 million people out of poverty, increased the GDP of low-income countries by 3.4%.
Strengthening humanitarian contacts and promoting mutual understanding and friendship among peoples. The countries along the “One Belt and One Road” have carried out in-depth humanitarian cooperation in education, science, culture, archaeology and sports. From student exchanges to joint archaeology, from mutual translation of books to joint production of movies, the friendship between the peoples, which has lasted for thousands of years, is growing stronger day by day.
Kazakhstan is the place where the “One Belt and One Road” initiative was first proclaimed and occupies a special and important position in the joint construction of the “Belt and Road”. Over the past ten years, under the strategic leadership and personal promotion of the two heads of state, the high-quality, joint construction of the “One Belt and One Road” between China and Kazakhstan has yielded fruitful results.
The first is the development of political contacts and the formulation of a cooperation plan. Under the leadership of the two heads of state, China and Kazakhstan were the first to sign a document on bilateral cooperation under the “One Belt and One Road” initiative. Under the leadership and coordination of the China-Kazakhstan Cooperation Committee, the two sides have been promoting the initiative and the New Economic Policy of the Republic of Kazakhstan “Nurly Zhol”, laying a solid foundation for mutually beneficial cooperation between the two countries.
The second is interconnectivity and cooperative network building. China and Kazakhstan have successfully established a comprehensive and three-dimensional connectivity network covering roads, railways, aviation, and oil and gas pipelines. Both countries are actively developing transit transportation. The China-Kazakhstan Lianyungang logistics terminal and the Khorgos-Eastern Gateway FEZ have built a new Asia-Europe land and sea transportation channel. China-Europe” freight trains transiting through the territory of Kazakhstan have become a ‘steel camel caravan’, playing a significant role in ensuring the continuity of global supply and production chains.
Third, deepening trade and increasing the “pie” of common interests. China is Kazakhstan's most important trade and investment partner, and the volume of trade between the two countries is increasing every year. The Shymkent Oil Refinery, the North Kazakhstan Agricultural Technology Park and many other projects are being implemented in Kazakhstan, accelerating the industrialization process. Chinese brand cars such as Changan, Chery, Haval and JAC are popular with consumers in Kazakhstan, and Chinese smartphones such as Huawei, Xiaomi and OPPO have countless “fans” in Kazakhstan. More than 220 Kazakhstani enterprises have entered the international e-commerce platform Alibaba, and Kazakhstani high-quality products have become available to numerous families in China.
Fourth, currency and financial flows open the “bloodline” of cooperation. Five Chinese financial institutions actively participated in the construction of the Astana International Financial Center, providing strong support for the development of China-Kazakhstan trade. Bilateral local currency settlements between China and Kazakhstan are gradually expanding, and the National Bank of Kazakhstan and the People's Bank of China have signed a memorandum of cooperation to establish a clearing mechanism for RMB transactions in Kazakhstan. The countries have established a special fund for China-Kazakhstan cooperation in manufacturing capacity, and are also making full use of financial platforms such as the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank and the Silk Road Fund, which provide new financing channels for joint construction of the One Belt and One Road.
The fifth is humanitarian exchange, bringing people's hearts together for cooperation. China and Kazakhstan have formed 23 pairs of sister cities and sister regions, the dynamics of regional cooperation has a high trend. China has opened 5 Confucius Institutes in Kazakhstan, training more than 3000 people annually, the “Chinese language learning boom” continues to grow. Cooperation between educational and research institutions of the two countries is steadily developing, the “Lu Ban Workshop” is making good progress, and the Chinese Cultural Center and the Center of Traditional Chinese Medicine have accelerated their realization. The movement of people and exchanges in various circles between the two countries are increasing day by day, constantly creating new prospects for people-to-people contacts.
Comments