Xi Jinping delivered a keynote speech at the opening of "The Belt and The Road" forum

Today, Chinese President Xi Jinping attended the opening ceremony of the High Level Forum on International Cooperation within the framework of "The Belt and The Road" project in Beijing, where he delivered a keynote speech on "Joint Promotion of the "The Belt and The Road" creation. The opening ceremony of the forum was led by Vice Premier of the State Council of the People's Republic of China Zhang Gaoli.

Xi Jinping recalled that the ancient Silk Road, stretching for ten thousand li, has contributed to the formation of the the Silk Road spirit for thousands of years. "Peace and cooperation, openness and inclusiveness, borrowing from each other and mutual benefit - this is the core of the Silk Road spirit. And this is the most valuable heritage of human civilization," Xi Jinping stressed.

According to him, over 100 countries and international organizations actively supported and joined the implementation of "The Belt and The Road" project. This initiative was also reflected in important resolutions of the General Assembly and the UN Security Council.
"It is gradually turning from concept to reality, from idea to action, and the creation of "The Belt and The Road" brings fruitful results," the Chinese leader noted, stating that "the past 4 years have been a period of constantly deepening policy coordination, strengthening infrastructure interconnectedness, increase of the unhindered trade level, expand the capital integration and development of friendly contacts between peoples".

Xi Jinping offered to take advantage of the favorable situation and act according to the conditions in order to turn "The Belt and The Road" project into a path of peace, prosperity, openness, innovations and civilization.

Xi Jinping assured that China will seriously implement the concept of innovative, coordinated, green, open and inclusive development, giving a strong impetus to the implementation of "The Belt and The Road" project and providing world with new development opportunities.
In addition, he noted that China is ready to develop friendly cooperation with all countries participating in "The Belt and The Road" construction and to facilitate the early start of business cooperation projects on which agreements have already been reached. Moreover, China will increase financial support for "The Belt and The Road" development by investing additional funds in sum of 100 billion yuan (about 14.5 billion US dollars) to the Silk Road Fund and will encourage financial institutions to carry out operations abroad with the attraction of yuan funds, the amount of which will preliminary equal to 300 billion yuan / about 43.5 billion US dollars/.

At the same time, according to Xi Jinping, China will actively develop a mutually beneficial trade and economic partnership with "The Belt and The Road" member countries. In this context, it is planned to create a free trade network under "The Belt and The Road" project and begin to host the Chinese International Import Fair from 2018. It is also planned to strengthen cooperation in the field of innovation, develop an action plan for scientific and technological innovations under "The Belt and The Road" Initiative, expand scientific and technological exchanges, and establish joint laboratories and science and technology parks.

In addition, China will also provide assistance to developing countries and international organizations involved in implementation of "The Belt and The Road" project in launching of more projects aimed at improving people's lives, establish a liaison mechanism to coordinate actions after "The Belt and The Road" forum and a new platform for cooperation in the humanitarian field," said the Chinese President.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, Turkish President Tayip Erdogan and UN Secretary General António Guterres also spoke at the opening of the forum.

"The Belt and The Road" Forum has become the largest international event within the framework of "The Belt and The Road" project implementation. It was attended by about 1,500 representatives from more than 130 countries and 70 international organizations, including 29 heads of foreign states and governments.

Source: russian.news.cn