View the 'Belt and Road' initiative as a great 'Social Project': Sinologist

Ji, T.W.Stoopman at the 3rd Visiting Program for Young Sinologist.[Photo/chinadaily.com.cn]

The Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road initiatives, also known as the "Belt and Road" initiative, were first introduced by Chinese President Xi Jinping in September and October 2013, respectively. As a development strategy that involved Asian, African and European countries, it attracts attention from both home and abroad.

With the 2008 aftermath of the economic crisis still haunting some parts of the world, the "Belt and Road" initiative, aimed at maintaining the global free trade system and an open economy, was put forwarded to promote the free flow of production factors of all countries and deepen regional cooperation on a larger scale.

In this ongoing series – China's "Belt and Road" initiative in the eyes of Sinologists – we asked Dutch Sinologist Jim T.W. Stoopman to comment on the issue during his trip to Beijing this month to attend the third Visiting Program for Young Sinologists. During the program, he studied into the economic belt of the New Silk Road – the evaluation of Chinese government's intervention into the country's rural economy.

Jim is programme coordinator of European Institute for Asian Studies. He is also co-founder of Bambozo.com.

Below are all the questions and answers of the interview.