Highlights: Xi addresses opening ceremony of 3rd Belt and Road forum

Chinese President Xi Jinping on Wednesday attended the opening ceremony of the third Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation as representatives from more than 140 countries and 30-plus international organizations gathered in Beijing for the event. 

China will work with all parties involved to usher Belt and Road cooperation into a new stage of high-quality development, and make relentless efforts to achieve modernization for all countries, Xi told the opening ceremony as the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) marked its 10th anniversary this year.

10 years on, Belt and Road to 'inject new impetus' into global economy

Xi told the gathering on Wednesday the initiative would aim to "inject new impetus" into the global economy.

"The BRI aims to enhance policy, infrastructure, trade, financial and people-to-people connectivity, inject new impetus into the global economy, create new opportunities for global development, and build a new platform for international economic cooperation," Xi said.

The cooperation has extended from the Eurasian continent to Africa and Latin America, and more than 150 countries and over 30 international organizations have signed cooperation documents, according to Xi.

"The Belt and Road cooperation was proposed by China, but its benefits and opportunities are for the world to share," Xi said.

He stressed the importance of win-win cooperation as he looked back on the past 10 years, saying that humankind is a community with a shared future.

"Countries taking the lead in economic development should give a hand to their partners who are yet to catch up. We should all treat each other as friends and partners, respect and support each other, and help each other succeed," he said.

Viewing others' development as a threat or taking economic interdependence as a risk will not make one's own life better or speed up one's development, he added. 

8 major steps to support high-quality Belt and Road cooperation

At the ceremony, Xi announced eight major steps China will take to support high-quality Belt and Road cooperation in the future. 

China will build a multidimensional connectivity network, including speeding up the high-quality development of China-Europe Railway Express and accelerating the building of other routes.

"We will vigorously integrate ports, shipping and trading services under the 'Silk Road Maritime,' and accelerate the building of the New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor and the Air Silk Road," he noted. 

On supporting an open world economy, Xi revealed China will establish pilot zones for Silk Road e-commerce cooperation, and enter into free trade agreements and investment protection treaties with more countries. 

China will remove all restrictions on foreign investment access in the manufacturing sector and advance high-standard opening up in cross-border service trade and investment.

"In the next five years, from 2024 to 2028, China's total trade in goods and services is expected to exceed $32 trillion and $5 trillion respectively," he said. 

China will carry out practical cooperation for the BRI. The country will promote both signature projects and "small yet smart" livelihood programs, the president said.

He vowed more financing support for BRI projects on the basis of market and business operation, noting that the China Development Bank and the Export Import Bank of China will each set up a 350 billion yuan ($48.75 billion) financing window, and that an additional 80 billion yuan will be injected into the Silk Road Fund.

Other steps Xi proposed include more support and efforts on green development, scientific and technological innovation and people-to-people exchanges. 

Together with its cooperation partners, China will also promote integrity-based Belt and Road cooperation and work with its BRI partner countries to strengthen the building of multilateral cooperation platforms covering energy, taxation, finance, green development, disaster reduction, anti-corruption, think tank, media, culture and other fields.

(With input from Xinhua)