It's been five years since Chinese President Xi Jinping proposed the Belt and Road Initiative. In the autumn of 2013, in Kazakhstan and Indonesia, Xi proposed the building of the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st-Century Maritime Silk Road – the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) for short.

Five years have passed, China's trade with the countries involved has exceeded 5 trillion US dollars and outward direct investment has amounted to over 60 billion dollars, creating over 200,000 local jobs.

Speaking of the role that the Belt and Road Initiative has played in the past five years, particularly as unilateralism seems to be rising, Li Yong, a senior fellow from the China Association of International Trade, said that the Initiative has injected new impetus into global development. Li summed it up into “ENRICH.”

Li explained that “ENRICH”, as a single word, it represents the BRI enriching the world with a lot of possibilities. And as an acronym, Li added, “E” represents economic well-being: The initiative has improved the economic well-being as well as the economic expectations on the basis of the community of shared future for mankind. “N” represents new opportunities and new areas, because one country itself cannot explore; “R” stands for re-injection of new development plans: Belt and Road can revitalize some of the initiatives with local governments. “I” means investment, infrastructure, industrialization and innovation. “C”, of course, for connectivity; and “H” for a harmonious relationship.

The concept of “extensive consultation, joint contribution and shared benefits” upheld by the BRI has gained wide recognition in the global arena, which has shown a promising future.

Looking forward to the next five years, Li also summed it up into a word, which is “GROW.”

He clarified that as a word, China is going to grow its engagement and the relationship with the countries involved under the initiative. And as an acronym, Li added, “G” represents the global participation on the major projects; “R” stands for reshaping of the economic and trade relations into more open, more inclusive and freer ones. “O” is open opportunities for everyone that opens to the initiative; and “W” represents the world, a better world, which is peaceful, inclusive and innovative.

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