Although the "Belt and Road Initiatives" (Silk Road Economic Belt and 21st Century Maritime Silk Road) offers a framework for global cooperation and also for domestic companies to expand investment and market share, some think the policy involves extravagant use of funds and would make some countries feel Beijing is out to challenge the established world order or dominate the regional market.
But these are misperceptions. The initiatives are based on a win-win principle, and China will take a variety of factors into account before choosing the projects, the investment they will demand, their operation models, and the mechanism needed to minimize risks. To push the initiatives, domestic enterprises will be encouraged to play a big role, and a favorable investment environment will be created, for example, by signing some agreements with countries worried about trade protection.
From an international perspective, the "Belt and Road Initiatives" is an extension of China's foreign policy based on non-alignment, non-confrontation and non-targeting of any third party. The initiatives are aimed at creating a platform for global cooperation based on open, inclusive and mutually beneficial principles of shared interests, responsibilities and destiny to rid countries of their traditional "security dilemma".
In this sense, the initiatives will be supplementary to the extant global mechanisms and help optimize their effects, as well as reform them.
From a regional perspective, the initiatives will help regional development. Since the huge cost advantages China enjoyed in the years since its entry into the World Trade Organization did not lead to its domination of the global market, there is no reason for it to do so when it is gradually losing those advantages.
The above is an abridgement of a People's Daily article published on Thursday.