Since its inception 12 years ago, the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) has seen more than three-quarters of the world’s countries join its cooperative efforts. In November 2015, President Xi Jinping emphasized during a speech at the National University of Singapore that the primary cooperation partners and primary beneficiaries of the BRI are China’s neighboring countries. Over the past decade, the BRI has taken root in China’s neighboring countries, yielding significant achievements and receiving widespread welcome and active support from their people, thus injecting strong momentum into building a community with a shared future with neighboring countries.
The BRI aligns with the development needs of China’s neighboring countries. Among China’s neighboring countries, more than a dozen are classified as lower-middle-income or low-income countries, where people generally aspire for further development. These countries have strong demands in industrial upgrading, infrastructure development and livelihood enhancement. By offering preferential financing, opening markets as well as assisting these countries in infrastructure improvement and industrial transformation and upgrading, the BRI accelerates the modernization process in China’s neighboring countries.
The BRI embodies the philosophy of harmonious coexistence, mutual benefit and win-win cooperation, providing new opportunities and new driving forces for enhancing the well-being of people across countries. It meets the common expectations of citizens in China’s neighboring countries. As a result, the initiative has received enthusiastic support and participation from neighboring nations since its inception. Currently, 25 neighboring countries have signed cooperation agreements with China on jointly building the Belt and Road. The BRI effectively synergizes with various national strategies and regional development plans, such as Russia’s Eurasian Economic Union, Kazakhstan’s “Bright Path” new economic policy, Mongolia’s “Steppe Road” initiative, and Indonesia’s “Global Maritime Fulcrum” concept. Pakistani Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif stated that the initiatives proposed by President Xi Jinping, including the BRI, provide strategic guidance for solving the problems facing the world today and for building a more peaceful and prosperous world.
The BRI has injected vitality into the economic development of China’s neighboring countries. It has provided financial and technological support for enhancing connectivity and infrastructure development in China’s neighboring countries, fueling regional economic growth and shared prosperity. Over the past 12 years, through joint efforts, China and its neighboring countries have achieved a series of significant accomplishments in connectivity. The connectivity framework of “Six Corridors, Six Connectivity Routes, Multiple Countries and Ports” has largely taken shape. The construction of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor has unleashed development potential in surrounding regions. Projects like the China-Laos Railway and the Jakarta-Bandung High-Speed Railway have increasingly become accelerators of regional connectivity and new engines for economic cooperation. New routes for China-Central Asia freight train have opened, the China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan railway has officially begun construction, and the number of freight trains operating along the New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor has surpassed 10,000 annually. These “roads to wealth” and “roads to prosperity” have brought tremendous opportunities for local economic development.
Under the Belt and Road cooperation framework, China’s economic and trade cooperation with neighboring countries has deepened and solidified. In 2024, China’s trade volume with Asian neighboring countries reached $1.89 trillion, accounting for nearly one-third of China’s total global trade. Among them, ASEAN was China’s largest export market and the top source of imports. South Korea, Japan, Vietnam and Malaysia were among China’s top ten trading partners. Additionally, China was the largest trading partner of 18 neighboring countries. In 2024, Chinese investment in ASEAN countries grew by 12.6% over the previous year, with major investments flowing to Singapore, Indonesia and Thailand. As the anchor of stability and the engine of economic development in Asia, China will continue to promote cooperation through openness, advance high-quality Belt and Road cooperation, and better benefit neighboring countries and people around the world.
The BRI has effectively enhanced people-to-people ties in neighboring countries. The geographical proximity, cultural similarity and close people-to-people ties between China and its neighboring countries provide a solid foundation for deep friendship and a strong aspiration for diversified cooperation. President Xi Jinping has pointed out that people-to-people exchanges are an important component and a key foundation of the Belt and Road cooperation. “Good neighbors wish each other well.” China adheres to the policy of developing friendship and partnership with its neighbors, strives to foster an amicable, secure and prosperous neighborhood, and follows the principle of amity, sincerity, mutual benefit and inclusiveness. China strives to enable its own development to better benefit Asian countries and continuously strengthen the social and public support for friendly and mutually beneficial cooperation between China and its neighbors. The BRI and other similar initiatives have received active support from neighboring countries and their people, laying a broad social foundation for building a community with a shared future with neighboring countries.
China upholds the Asian values of peace, cooperation, openness and inclusiveness, actively expanding people-to-people and cultural exchange and cooperation with neighboring countries, and fostering greater understanding and friendship among the peoples. “Luban Workshops” have been established in China’s neighboring countries such as Thailand, India, Indonesia and Tajikistan, cultivating local talents with specialized technical skills. Foreign aid projects like the cultivation of Chinese Juncao and hybrid rice, which are small projects that work faster in improving people’s lives, have been implemented in countries like Laos, effectively enhancing the sense of gain and happiness among local populations. China and ASEAN have leveraged initiatives like the “ASEAN-China Year of People-to-People Exchanges” to promote in-depth exchanges and cooperation in education, public health, youth affairs, tourism, culture and sports. China has also exchanged students, collaborated on cultural heritage protection, and organized exhibitions of cultural relics across borders with neighboring countries. These cultural exchange and educational cooperation projects have significantly enhanced mutual understanding and recognition among the peoples of the involved countries.
At present, the world is experiencing unprecedented changes. The unilateralism and protectionist measures of some countries have severely impacted the global economic landscape. However, the overall trend of economic globalization will not change, nor will the trend of mutually beneficial cooperation between China and its neighboring countries. The prospects for enhancing the Belt and Road cooperation between China and its neighboring countries remain broad. The continuous deepening of pragmatic cooperation will bring new opportunities for regional connectivity and economic growth, providing fresh momentum for building a community with a shared future among neighboring countries. China will continue to uphold the policy of amity, sincerity, mutual benefit and inclusiveness, remaining committed to building a community with a shared future with neighboring countries, and working together with neighboring countries to share opportunities and achieve common development.