High-quality joint construction of the "Belt and Road" is not only a need for China to expand and deepen its opening up to the outside world, but also a long-term plan for the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation and the sustainable development of mankind. The "Recommendations of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China on Formulating the Fifteenth Five-Year Plan for National Economic and Social Development" adopted by the Fourth Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China once again emphasized "high-quality joint construction of the 'Belt and Road'" when deploying the expansion of high-level opening up to the outside world. How should we promote high-quality joint construction of the “Belt and Road” during the “15th Five-Year Plan” period? A reporter from China Economic Times conducted an exclusive interview with Luo Yuze, deputy director, first-level inspector and researcher of the Foreign Economic Research Department of the Development Research Center of the State Council.

Four key areas of focus to promote high-quality joint construction

China Economic Times: During the “15th Five-Year Plan” period, what are the key focuses of high-quality joint construction of the “Belt and Road”?

Luo Yuze: First, in terms of concept, we advocate co-building modernization and a community with a shared future for mankind. "One Belt, One Road" is the presidential leadership of China's opening-up in the new era and a practical platform for building a community with a shared future for mankind. The Fourth Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China proposed that adhering to open cooperation and mutual benefit and win-win are inevitable requirements for Chinese-style modernization, and we must share development opportunities and develop together with other countries in the world. The general direction and overall goal of the Belt and Road cooperation is to jointly promote modernization and build a community with a shared future for mankind, and to pool cooperation forces.

The second is to further enhance the systematicness of construction in all aspects in terms of ideas. For example, we will strengthen the overall management of the joint construction of national strategic docking and cooperation plans; focus on strengthening the guarantee link, encourage the establishment of "going global" service stations for enterprises at home and abroad, and improve foreign-related laws and regulations.

Third, on the path, a variety of methods will be used comprehensively. For example, focusing on co-building "One Belt and One Road" partners, we should expand the network of high-standard free trade zones, create a system of institutional rules for the transnational development of cross-border e-commerce, and further enhance the level of liberalization and facilitation of two-way investment.

Fourth, in terms of action, China will continue to play an important leading role. The joint construction of the "Belt and Road" is an international public good provided by China to the world. Over the past decade or so, China has worked hard to promote all-round cooperation with the majority of participants, playing the role of promoter and leader. During the "15th Five-Year Plan" period, China will still play a leading role.

Improve the systematicness and synergy of cooperation

China Economic Times: During the “15th Five-Year Plan” period, how can we promote the “One Belt, One Road” initiative to be discussed, co-constructed and shared in a deeper and more concrete way?

Luo Yuze: To promote the joint construction of the "Belt and Road" to be deeper and more practical, to put it simply, it means to achieve a stable foundation for cooperation, a deep level of cooperation, and fruitful cooperation, so as to achieve stable and long-term development. This requires improving the systematicness and synergy of cooperation, the coordination of commodity and factor flow cooperation and institutional cooperation, and the precise matching of transnational supply and demand. We can focus on the following aspects.

The first is to create a complete ecosystem for value realization. Arrange industrial parks and logistics centers around major landmark projects such as ports and railways, strengthen the connection between existing industrial parks, urban population clusters and backbone transportation corridors, improve community functions, connect production, transportation, life, consumption and other links, promote local employment growth, increase production efficiency and improve people's livelihood, and fully realize the commercial and social value of infrastructure.

The second is to strengthen independent opening up and international cooperation linkage. Our country is actively expanding its independent opening up and is also actively promoting international economic and trade cooperation. The two can be better integrated.

The third is to build an integrated overseas comprehensive service system. It is necessary to attach great importance to the use of local service resources and security forces, strengthen policy coordination, regulatory coordination and law enforcement cooperation between my country and host countries, gather government and market forces, and improve the accessibility, timeliness and effectiveness of overseas services.

From "big freehand brushwork" to "meticulous brushwork"

China Economic Times: The plenary session emphasized the overall coordination and promotion of major landmark projects and "small but beautiful" people's livelihood projects, and deepened pragmatic cooperation in trade, investment, industry, and people-to-people and cultural exchanges. How to understand this deepening and transformation of the focus of cooperation?

Luo Yuze: This transformation and deepening includes both adjustments in construction priorities based on different stages and optimization of strategies to adapt to the new situation.

In the early stages, we should focus on major projects and complete the "big freehand" construction of columns and beams to build the key infrastructure needed to support medium- and long-term economic development. When the infrastructure reaches a certain scale, it is necessary to focus on the "meticulous painting". "Small but beautiful" projects can directly promote material production or enhance people's sense of gain, help strengthen "soft connectivity" and "heart connectivity", and reduce the risk of the joint construction of the "Belt and Road" being disrupted by the noise of international public opinion. The plenary session emphasized the "coordinated promotion of the construction of major landmark projects and 'small but beautiful' livelihood projects", aiming to organically unify macro layout and micro perception, long-term development and current value realization, and form a positive interactive pattern of "helping the small with the big and benefiting the big with the small."

Deepening pragmatic cooperation in investment, industry, and people-to-people and cultural exchanges also embodies the concept of systematic collaboration. Investment and industrial cooperation can make up for the funding gap of partners in developing countries, help host countries improve local industrial chains and supply chains, and enhance local people's sense of participation and identity in projects. It is a parallel move of "blood transfusion" and "blood creation" and fully embodies the meaning of "co-construction and sharing." Through cultural exhibitions, tourism visits, vocational training, study abroad and other cultural cooperation, it is conducive to broadening and improving the vision and skills of local people, thereby enhancing friendship and mutual trust, and creating an atmosphere and environment for friendly cooperation.

Strengthen all-round cooperation and share development opportunities

China Economic Times: How will the next step be to further expand cooperation in green, digital, artificial intelligence and other fields?

Luo Yuze: Taking green, digital and artificial intelligence as key areas in jointly building the "Belt and Road" is a forward-looking choice that aims at the future and takes a long-term view. Greening, digitalization and intelligence are major trends in economic development and new driving forces that are closely related to each other. However, these three areas are often the shortcomings of many developing countries. China has achieved a leading position in industrial development by virtue of its forward-looking policy orientation, outstanding economies of scale, and institutional advantages in the organic integration of government and market. By strengthening all-round cooperation and sharing development opportunities, it can accelerate the transformation process of other co-building countries to high-quality development and help bridge the North-South gap in global development.

In terms of the construction of the Green Silk Road, it is necessary to continue to deepen project cooperation in the fields of solar energy, wind power and other clean energy as well as green infrastructure, focusing on meeting the electricity needs of key infrastructure operations, industrial park production, urban household lighting, travel, etc., sum up the best project practical experience, and promote it in a larger region.

In terms of the construction of the Digital Silk Road, we will systematically promote the construction of trusted digital infrastructure, the development of new business formats such as cross-border e-commerce, and the docking of standards and rules for network security and cross-border data flow. We will jointly build a vast digital space that is open, inclusive, efficient, connected, and collaboratively governed, and give full play to the role of data, a new production factor, in promoting the development of new productive forces.

In terms of exploring new frontiers for artificial intelligence cooperation, we should follow the principle of extensive consultation, joint construction, joint governance and sharing, and promote technical cooperation, experience sharing, resource sharing, and governance collaboration. Form a computing power alliance, choose a suitable location to build a computing power center, and optimize the configuration of computing power service supply. Expand the artificial intelligence open source community, gather model development forces, and promote inclusive sharing of infrastructure and application models.

Form an institutional and mechanism system that coordinates macro and micro aspects and connects concepts and practices.

China Economic Times: At the level of multilateral cooperation, how does China promote collaborative governance with developed and developing countries through platforms such as the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank?

Luo Yuze: China firmly upholds multilateralism and insists on building an open world economy. The joint construction of the "Belt and Road" is a very open and inclusive initiative, positioned as a practical platform for building a community with a shared future for mankind. Currently, more than 150 countries have participated, mainly developing countries and emerging economies. Due to differences in resource endowments and development stages, developed and developing economies often have large differences in interest demands and policy positions. Bridging differences and building consensus are common problems faced by most multilateral organizations or institutions. The current international environment is complex, with great power competition and geopolitical conflicts further increasing the difficulty of coordination.

The "Belt and Road" International Cooperation Summit Forum has a wide range of representatives and high levels of participation. It is a good platform for policy promotion, discussion and cooperation, and the AIIB has played a very good role in the construction of major infrastructure projects and the governance standards of multilateral institutions. The establishment of similar international implementation entities should also be explored in other fields. The methods and paths can be pragmatic and flexible, starting with bilateral or small multilaterals, and then gradually expanding, and finally forming an institutional mechanism for jointly building the "Belt and Road" with macro and micro cooperation and the connection of concepts and practices.