One Belt, One Road, One Corridor

Khmer Times

China’s ‘One Belt, One Road’ aims to link Asia with Europe by sea and land. Reuters

BEIJING (Khmer Times) – A senior Chinese Communist Party official has urged the media to help promote Beijing’s ambitious “One Belt, One Road” initiative to create the longest economic corridor in the world, linking Asia with Europe by land and sea.

Liu Yunshan, a standing committee member of the political bureau of the Communist Party, made the call while meeting with foreign media executives at the “Media Cooperation Forum on the Belt and Road”.

“Media organizations can enhance cooperation through personnel exchanges and sharing news products to increase the understanding of people in countries along the routes,” Mr. Liu told the foreign media executives.

“Media organizations can also work jointly to create a sound environment for building a green, healthy, intelligent and peaceful Silk Road. People don’t want war, they want peace and development,” added Mr. Liu.

The belt and road initiative is a two-pronged approach with the new Silk Road – or Silk Road economic belt – that sets up logistics and transport networks along the land route and links them up with the maritime Silk Road. The belt and road initiative, therefore, utilizes both land and sea routes.

It would be the longest economic corridor in the world, connecting almost 4.5 billion people in Asia and Europe. Funding for the belt and road initiative will come partly from the Chinese-initiated Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank and China’s $40 billion Silk Road Fund.

Mr. Liu rejected fears that China was expanding its economic power using the belt and road initiative.

“The initiative benefits all and the dominant position of China is a misunderstanding,” he said. “The world is a global village and we are all connected and need to promote globalization. The belt and road initiative is a symbol of cultural interaction.”

Yang Zhenwu, president of the state-owned People’s Daily also threw his support behind the belt and road initiative.

“One Belt, One Road is the world’s largest global economic recovery plan and marks China’s contribution to the global governance and peace,” he told the forum.

“The initiative aims to promote the efficient allocation of resources and greater integration of markets. It also encourages countries along the belt and road to achieve economic policy coordination,” added Mr.Yang.

The forum, organized by the People’s Daily, has been held annually since 2014 and was attended by participants from 212 media organizations across 101 countries.

Mr. Liu said President Xi Jinping had shown China’s commitment to the project and to developing countries along the routes, which span East Asia, Southeast Asia, Central Asia, the Middle East, Africa and the South Pacific. Agreements had already been signed with 30 countries and at least 70 have expressed interest, officials said.

Liu said the belt and road initiative was welcomed by countries along the routes and aimed at more than economics – including promoting green technology, cultural cooperation and boosting peace.

The initiative was also seen as a major potential source for employment in countries where jobs were scarce, said analysts.

Some of the deals already signed specify that workers must not just be from the country where a particular project was being developed.

Rather, they must be from the local area where the project is based – such as Zharkent in Kazakhstan, 30 kilometers from the Chinese border, where 80 percent must be locals.

The nearby Khorgos-Eastern Gate special economic zone will eventually employ 50,000 people and has been dubbed a mini-Dubai.

Opened late last year, it is a 340 hectare dry port and is the main processing center for cargo trains between China and Europe.

International conglomerates like BASF, HP, Toyota, DHL and Alibaba have already expressed interest in the belt and road initiative.

President Xi unveiled the belt and road initiative in 2013 during state visits to Kazakhstan and Indonesia ‒ two key countries along the new Silk Road. Kazakhstan is pivotal to the land route while about one-fifth of world trade passes through the Malacca Straits – between Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore.