This year marks the fifth anniversary of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). Countries along the route have witnessed marked progress in the past 5 years. A forum on international capacity cooperation kicked off in Beijing on Sunday for sharing experiences and discussing ways to achieve high-quality sustainable development. 

Around 400 participants attended the first Silk Road International Capacity Cooperation Forum, some of whom came from countries that have already had industrial capacity cooperation with China for several years. 

Negus Kebede, the Ethiopian minister-counsellor to China notes that, the cooperation in this field has helped Ethiopia achieve double-digit economic growth for the last 15 years, and has created the basic necessary economic infrastructure, which is making Ethiopia one of the preferred investment destination in Africa.

Sri Lanka's minister-counsellor Alexi Gunasekera says that for some sectors, Sri Lanka actually doesn't have the economic know-how, so it needs foreign cooperation and the Belt and Road Initiative is very good.

Another highlight of the forum was to launch the "Belt and Road International Cooperation Express" project, which aims to make convenient the one-stop matchmaking services for bilateral cooperation, including connections between governments, policies, projects, capital, third-party services and overseas industrial parks projects. 

Song Zhiping, Chairman of China National Building Material Group expresses his expectation on the project. He says: "We have good technologies, we have talent and experience, and we are willing to build a community of a shared future. While we still need good organizations that are orderly and effective, the International Cooperation Express does this for us. Though it has just begun, it is especially significant for project implementation."

Zhang Huarong, the Chairman of Hua Jian Group thinks enterprises can benefit from the express service in two aspects: First, it provides help for cooperation in building industrial parks in terms of infrastructure, including water, electricity and transport. Second, it provides help for interactions in the whole industrial chain. More importantly, it provides a platform for information and services for the needs of development. 

Some participants also refute the allegation that this mode of cooperation will shift China's excessive production capacity to countries along the route. They say BRI has brought upgraded -- rather than backward or low-end technology and Chinese technicians also help train the local staff.