Preface

The Belt and Road Initiative has endowed the ancient Silk Road with a new meaning of the times, and is aimed to build an economic cooperation belt of peace and win-win development by means of “policy coordination, facilities connectivity, unimpeded trade, financial integration and people-to-people bond.”On the occasion of the opening of the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation, leaders and elites in the areas of politics, economics and culture all around the world are gathered here to discuss grand cooperation plans, build cooperation platforms, and share the fruits of cooperation, to seek solutions to the existing problems of the world and regional economy, and to give new impetus to common development so that the Belt and Road construction can better benefit the peoples of the countries concerned.

We witnessed the new highlights of regional and cross-region cooperation worldwide and the impressive progress made in the Belt and Road construction from the conception of the idea to its implementation. A number of major construction projects for highways, railways and ports started, including the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, the effect of which has begun to be shown. Interconnection and interworking has sped up, with the commencement of the building of the Jakarta-Bandung High-speed Railway (which was the first overseas project of its kind procured by Chinese enterprises) and of the ChinaLaos Railway. Notable progress has been achieved in international capacity cooperation, with the China-Kazakhstan Capacity Cooperation Agreement attracting investments of over $23 billion, and the building of the ChinaBelarus Industrial Park kicking off. So far, China has invested $51.1 billion in countries along the Belt and Road, and signed engineering contracts worth a total of $279 billion with these countries. Economic and trade cooperation zones being built in such countries by Chinese enterprises has created $900 million in tax revenues and around 70000 jobs for the host countries.

In the finance sector, the newly founded Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, BRICS New Development Bank, Silk Road Fund and other development financial institutions, along with relevant investment and financing activities, are generating a demonstration effect, facilitating the participation of commercial finance and social capital in Belt and Road Construction. Furthermore, new headway has been made in international financial cooperation, while the achievement of RMB internationalization has won international acknowledgement. The establishment of a host of multilateral cooperation frameworks and exchange forums has paved the way for wider and deeper international cooperation.

We have also noted that problems still abound in building a diversified and open Belt and Road investment and financing cooperation mechanism, which requires that international, commercial and social capital all participate in the process, that market mechanisms and enterprises play a leading role, and that the market-based resources allocation function be brought into play so as to support the national strategy.

To further promote academic exchanges in all Belt and Road-related areas and jointly cultivate international talents, the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) and the China Association for the Promotion of Development Financing (CAPDF) work together to implement the requirements of the China-Belarus joint declaration made during President Xi Jinping's visit to Belarus, and establish the Silk Road Academy (SRA). With its working framework covering all the countries and regions along the Belt and Road, SRA aims to provide intellectual and talent support to the Belt and Road construction, expand the initiative's global influence, and promote common development of these regions.

Given CASS's prestige as a hall of academia in the area of social science and humanity and the domestically largest comprehensive research institution, and CAPDF's advantage in combining industry with finance and financing coordination, SRA, by fully mobilizing research forces and think tank resources and liaising with government departments and businesses, will carry out training for countries along the Belt and Road, including introducing the policies, ideas and measures in relation to the Belt and Road construction,deepening these countries' understanding thereof, promoting interconnection, interworking and practical cooperation under the Belt and Road framework, and communicating China's development experience.

Being the first book organized by SRA, this book also marks the beginning of a series of academic writings. The chapters included herein are focused on discussing the cooperation and win-win development of countries along the Silk Road, and analyzing the common development process of Asia, Europe, Africa and Latin America from the Belt and Road perspective. The subjects under discussion are extensive and insightful, involving the infrastructure construction, development of industrialization and other aspects of the countries concerned, which can serve as a significant reference to furthering the Belt and Road cooperation.

As a development financing NGO chiefly sponsored by the China Development Bank, CAPDF is committed to facilitating research on development financing, building of think tanks, industrial incubation, information services and international exchanges, and promoting the socialization and internationalization of development financing. China has figured out a set of development financing concepts and methods with Chinese characteristics through over 20 years of practice, which has played a unique role in supporting the “national infrastructure, basic industries and pillar industries”, improvement of people's livelihood and international cooperation. Going forward, CAPDF will consistently adhere to the idea of development financing, run SRA properly by working closely with CASS, give full play to the role of think tanks in international exchanges and cooperation, promote Belt and Road-related academic exchanges, build a talent network for international cooperation, and contribute to the Belt and Road construction.

We look forward to having your valuable comments or suggestions.

Li Jiping

Director of SRA Executive Vice President of CAPDF

April 2017