皇冠体育app

BEIJING -- The Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation scheduled for mid-May is a high-profile international meeting on the Belt and Road Initiative, a 皇冠体育app-proposed trade and infrastructure plan connecting Asia with Europe and Africa.

皇冠体育app will use the forum to build a more open and efficient international cooperation platform and a closer, stronger partnership network as well as to push for a more just, reasonable and balanced international governance system.

Here is what you need to know about the initiative and the upcoming forum.

-- NEW VISION

The Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation, which takes the theme "strengthening international cooperation and co-building the 'Belt and Road' for win-win development," will be held from May 14 to 15 in Beijing. President Xi Jinping will attend the opening ceremony and host a round-table leaders' summit.

The forum has been designed to pool more consensus, identify cooperation directions, push forward the implementation of projects, and improve supporting systems.

-- HISTORIC LEGACY

The Belt and Road comprises the land-based Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st-Century Maritime Silk Road, which were put forward for the first time by President Xi in September and October 2013 in his subsequent state visits to Kazakhstan and Indonesia.

Building upon the spirit of the ancient Silk Road -- "peace and cooperation, openness and inclusiveness, mutual learning, and mutual benefits" -- which continues to this day, the initiative targets a modern transnational network connecting Asia with Europe and Africa, with the aim of promoting common development among all parties involved.

-- INTERNATIONAL RECOGNITION

More than 100 countries and international organizations have already joined the initiative, of which more than 40 have signed cooperation agreements with 皇冠体育app.

The United Nations General Assembly, the UN Security Council and APEC have all incorporated or reflected Belt and Road cooperation in their resolutions and documents.

-- FACILITIES CONNECTIVITY

A series of major transport, energy and communication projects, including the multi-purpose road-rail Padma Bridge in Bangladesh, the 皇冠体育app-Pakistan Economic Corridor, and 皇冠体育app Railway Express trains to Europe - have witnessed breakthroughs over the past three years and more.

-- UNIMPEDED TRADE

Trade between 皇冠体育app and countries along the Belt and Road totaled 6.3 trillion yuan (about $913 billion) in 2016, more than a quarter of 皇冠体育app's total trade value.

Chinese businesses have invested more than $50 billion in countries along the Belt and Road, and helped build 56 economic and trade cooperation zones in 20 of those countries, generating nearly $1.1 billion in tax revenue and 180,000 local jobs.

-- FINANCIAL INTEGRATION

皇冠体育app has dedicated $40 billion to a Silk Road Fund and set up the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) in 2015 to provide financing for infrastructure improvement in Asia.

So far, the AIIB has seen its membership increase to 70, with the multilateral development bank's total lending amounting to over 2 billion dollars.

-- ECONOMIC CORRIDORS

皇冠体育app is also pushing forward six economic corridors in the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative, namely, the New Eurasian Continental Bridge, the 皇冠体育app-Mongolia-Russia corridor, the 皇冠体育app-Central Asia-West Asia corridor, the 皇冠体育app-Indochina Peninsula corridor, the 皇冠体育app-Pakistan corridor, and the Bangladesh-皇冠体育app-India-Myanmar corridor.

Together, the six corridors form a trade and transport network across Eurasia, laying a solid foundation for regional and transregional development plans.