An Approach for Building a High-Quality Wang Kai and Ni Jianjun Belt and Road An Approach for Building a High-Quality Belt and Road An Approach for Building a High-Quality Belt and Road Wang Kai and Ni Jianjun* Abstract: The Second Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation has ushered in a new phase featuring the joint promotion of a comprehensive, high-quality Belt and Road construction. Advancing the construction of a high-quality Belt and Road is based not only on the solid achievements of its six years of consolidation and practical cooperation, but also on the guidance of China’s initiatives and proposals, general recognition by the countries along the Belt and Road, as well as the support and recognition from international organizations like the United Nations. However, the uncertainty and instability found in the ever-changing international environment, the suspicion and strategic competition from extraterritorial major countries, and other concrete problems appearing during its construction over the past six years have also posed certain challenges that cannot be ignored. The direction of its high-quality development in this new phase involves China’s proactive selection to face the changing international environment and curtail suspicions from the outside world, as well as to resolve the difficulties and problems it encounters along the way in a timely manner, which will ensure the long-term sustainability of the Belt and Road. Achieving this goal calls for long-term system engineering, wherein China should continue to play a steering role, and the convergence of the interests of the countries along the Belt and Road so as to fuse these nations, each with their own respective resources, closely together by building a regional value chain. In such a closely-knit community, high-quality infrastructure serves * Wang Kai is an associate professor at the Dongling School of Economic Management, University of Science and Technology Beijing, whose research focuses on international trade, international politics and economics, and regional economic integration. Ni Jianjun is the deputy director and a research professor at the Institute for World Economic Studies, CICIR, mainly focusing on economic security, international economic relations, and regional economic cooperation. CIR November/December 2019 87 Wang Kai and Ni Jianjun as the backbone, while diversified financing institutions and functions serve as the arteries. Meanwhile, institutional building should also be emphasized, which will ensure that the goals for building a high-quality Belt and Road are fulfilled at different levels. Keywords: the Belt and Road, high-quality construction, international economic cooperation, community with a shared future for humanity ver the last six years since the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) was first Oproposed, a comprehensive framework has been laid out, making it a widely-participated platform for international cooperation and generally-welcomed international public good. In August 2018, President Xi Jinping proposed to“promote the transformation of the joint Belt and Road construction to high-quality development”, emphasizing high-quality as the basic work requirement for jointly constructing the Belt and Road in the next phase.1 On April 26, 2019, President Xi Jinping made it clear at the Second Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation that“jointly promoting the high-quality development of the Belt and Road should be made the principal line for future cooperation”,2 thus bringing the Belt and Road into a new phase of high-quality development. This paper intends to clarify the connotations attached to“high-quality Belt and Road development”, define the development goals for this new phase, and explore a feasible approach for jointly promoting its development by elaborating on favorable conditions and constraints, so as to contribute some thoughts for ensuring a steady and far-reaching high-quality development of the Belt and Road. 1“Xi Jinping chuxi‘yidaiyilu’jianshe gongzuo wuzhounian zuotanhui bing fabiao zhongyao jianghua [Xi Jinping attended the symposium on five years of work on the Belt and Road construction and delivered an important speech],”accessed September 1, 2019, http://www.xinhuanet.com/2018-08/27/c_1123335396.htm. 2“Qixin kaichuang gongjian‘yidaiyilu’meihao weilai”—Xi Jinping zai dierjie “yidaiyilu”guoji hezuo gaofeng luntan shang de zhuzhi jianghua [Working together to deliver a brighter future for Belt and Road cooperation—the keynote speech delivered by President Xi Jinping at the opening ceremony of the Second Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation], accessed September 1, 2019, http://www.xinhuanet.com /2019-04/26/c_1124420187.htm. CIR Vol. 29 No. 6 88 An Approach for Building a High-Quality Belt and Road Contents and Goals Since 2013, the construction of the Belt and Road has made major headway and great achievements, for instance: the scope of international cooperation is expanding constantly, and cooperation partners under the BRI span from Eurasia to Africa and further to the Caribbean in Latin America, and the southern Pacific, with the joint promotion of the construction of the Belt and Road becoming a common cause of the international community; the endeavor of achieving“Wutong”(policy, infrastructure, trade, financial and people-to-people connectivity) has made a great progress, and the general connectivity framework consisting of six corridors, six connectivity routes, multiple countries and multiple ports has basically taken shape; construction projects such as the China-Maldives Friendship Bridge, the Addis Ababa-Djibouti Railway, the Gwadar Port and the Karot Hydropower Station have taken roots; and practical cooperation has begun to advance into the manufacturing and service industries. The improved infrastructure has greatly boosted trade and investment, as the accumulated trade volume in goods from 2013 to 2018 reached US$6 trillion, direct investment into the countries along the Belt and Road exceeded US$90 billion, and grand- scale energy cooperation covered more than 40 countries, all of which has created 300, 000 jobs for the countries along the Belt and Road.1 In addition, the development platforms and connectivity routes built thus far have made the Belt and Road a major source of growth for the global economy, which is likely to boost world GDP by US$7.1 trillion per annum by 2040.2 In its vibrant advancement, the construction of the Belt and Road has had to confront an increasingly complicated international environment. Presently, the world is undergoing profound changes that have not been seen in a hundred years; the transformation of global governance is obviously 1 Tuijin“yidaiyilu”jianshe gongzuo lingdao xiaozu bangongshi, Gongjian“yidaiyilu” changyi: jinzhan, gongxian yu zhanwang [Office of the Leading Group for the Belt and Road Initiative, The Belt and Road Initiative: progress, contributions and prospects], accessed June 22, 2019,https: //www.yidaiyilu.gov.cn/zchj/qwfb/86697.htm. “2 Belt and Road Initiative to Boost World GDP by over $7 Trillion Per Annum by 2040,”Centre for Economics and Business Research, May 27, 2019. CIR November/December 2019 89 Wang Kai and Ni Jianjun prolonged; and the strategic political game between China and the US is ongoing with unprecedented complexity and intensity. The pursuit of unilateralism and protectionism by the US has greatly impacted the international order, evident in the facts that the US is willfully provoking trade frictions with other countries, interfering with global industrial and supply chains, and undermining the already existing global trade regime, which has increased the risk of a worldwide economic slump. If the US were to substantially promote“decoupling”with China and force relevant countries to choose a side, a significant impact would be wrought upon China’s economic and trade cooperation with the countries along the Belt and Road, and it would have to face greater difficulties in its endeavor to strengthen and improve the Belt and Road. While more and more countries throughout the world have identified with the BRI, certain suspicions do exist, mainly related to some specific issues, such as taking the BRI as an aid program, with which China intends to establish a sphere of influence in all the relevant countries; the projects under the umbrella of the BRI lack transparency and sustainability, which may result in a debt trap for the partners; because China is exporting its pollution-producing and excessive production capacity, its projects are likely to undermine the environment in these countries; and more in-depth economic cooperation with China could lead to trade shocks from China. These negative opinions, whether they stem from biases and deliberate distortions or have been caused by misunderstandings due to inefficient communication, have impeded the advancement of the Belt and Road construction. Moreover, after investigating and researching some of China’s projects in Southeast Asia and Africa, the World Bank and the Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation (HSBC) among others have pointed out that a lot more has to be done for China to improve its financing, environmental conservation, transparency, corporate social responsibilities, and communication with the local people.1 These problems will directly affect the progress and quality of the joint projects under the BRI, or even the effectiveness of their operation after they are completed, 1 Michele Ruta,et al.,“Belt and Road Economics: Opportunities and Risks of Transport Corridors,”The World Bank, 2019, 50-96; Janet Henry and James Pomeroy“, Belt & Road: The Global Impact,”HSBC Global Research, September 2019, 8-1. CIR Vol. 29 No. 6 90 An Approach for Building a High-Quality Belt and Road unless they are resolved. The direction for the high-quality development of the Belt and Road in its new phase has been taken on by China as its own initiative to respond to the changing international environment as well as suspicions and misinterpretations, and timely overcome the difficulties and problems encountered in promoting this initiative, which will definitely ensure its increasing sustainability.