The Ministry of Foreign Affairs Holds a Briefing for Chinese and Foreign Media on President Xi Jinping's Attendance at the Second Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation (BRF)

On April 19, 2019, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs held a briefing for Chinese and foreign media. State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi introduced the relevant situation of President Xi Jinping's attendance at the second Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation (BRF), and answered questions from the journalists.

Wang Yi announced that the second BRF will be held in Beijing from April 25 to 27, and its major events include 12 sub-forums and an entrepreneur conference on April 25, the opening ceremony and the high-level meeting on April 26, and leaders' roundtable on April 27. President Xi Jinping will attend the opening ceremony of the forum and deliver a keynote speech. He will chair the whole leaders' roundtable and brief Chinese and foreign media on the outcomes after the roundtable. President Xi Jinping and his wife Peng Liyuan will also hold a welcome banquet for the leaders and guests of various countries. Up to now, leaders including heads of state and government from 37 countries will attend the roundtable. These 37 countries, in the English alphabetical order of their names, are Austria, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Brunei, Cambodia, Chile, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Djibouti, Egypt, Ethiopia, Greece, Hungary, Indonesia, Italy, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Malaysia, Mongolia, Mozambique, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, Portugal, Russia, Serbia, Singapore, Switzerland, Tajikistan, Thailand, the United Arab Emirates, Uzbekistan and Vietnam. Meanwhile, Secretary-General of the United Nations and Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund will also attend the forum. 40 leaders including a Chinese leader will gather by Yanqi Lake at the foot of Yanshan Mountains. In addition, senior representatives entrusted by leaders of France, Germany, the United Kingdom, Spain, Japan, the Republic of Korea and the European Union will also be present.

Wang Yi pointed out that the BRF is the platform with the highest standard for international cooperation under the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). This forum is China's most important home-field diplomatic event this year, as well as an international event with landmark significance. This forum can be summarized in five phrases:

First, clear direction. The theme of the second BRF is "Belt and Road Cooperation, Shaping a Brighter Shared Future". The mainline is to promote the joint construction of the BRI for high-quality development. This is an important idea put forward by President Xi Jinping facing the world, which reflects the common aspirations of countries participating in the BRF and sets a goal towards which all parties should make joint efforts.

Second, solid foundation. The BRI has yielded remarkable achievements and fruitful results since it was put forward six years ago, becoming an international cooperative platform with extensive participation and an international popular public product in the world today. The golden principle of extensive consultation, joint contribution and shared benefits has been widely acknowledged. The cooperation pattern of "six corridors and six channels serving multiple countries and ports" is basically formed. A host of connectivity projects have been implemented successfully, bringing abundant development opportunities to various countries. Ordinary people also gain an obvious sense of participation, gain and happiness. All of those will provide solid foundation for us to host the second BRF.

Third, warm response. Many countries have actively requested participation in the BRF in China. Nearly 5,000 foreign guests from more than 150 countries and 90 international organizations have confirmed their participation in the forum. Foreign representatives attending the forum are from all sectors of society including governments, non-governmental organizations, business circles and academic institutions from various regions of the five continents.

Fourth, practical arrangement. In keeping with the successful methods of the first BRF, we will develop new ways in the arrangement in the second BRF. There will be 12 sub-forums, twice the number of last year, which will focus on practical cooperation. The entrepreneur conference will also be held for the first time to serve as a platform for the integration and cooperation of business circles of all countries.

Fifth, results worthy of expecting. A joint communique will be released after the leaders' roundtable to demonstrate the political consensus of leaders of all countries. The Chinese side will also release the report namely: The Belt and Road Initiative Progress, Contributions and Prospects. During the entrepreneur conference, personages from business circles of various countries will also sign a series of cooperation projects agreements.

Wang Yi pointed out that the BRI is an international economic cooperation initiative proposed by President Xi Jinping, whose core value is enhancing all-around connectivity through infrastructure construction. It aims to explore new driving force for the world economic growth, and build a new platform for world economic cooperation. At the first BRF, President Xi Jinping and leaders of various countries drew the blueprint of the construction of the BRI. Over the past two years, the BRI has become a road of cooperation, prosperity, opening up, green development, win-win results and cleanness thanks to the concerted efforts of all parties. Facts have proved that the BRI conforms to the trend of times featuring peace, development, cooperation and win-win results and accords with the shared aspirations of opening up and interconnected development of all countries.

Wang Yi said that as the host country, we always uphold the principle of extensive consultation, joint contribution and shared benefits, maintain close communication and coordination with all parties to prepare for the forum with openness, inclusiveness and transparency. It is hoped that through the second BRF, we will work with all parties to sum up experience, plan for the future, build consensus and earnestly push international cooperation of the BRI towards quality development. The first is to gain a strong foothold in the strong tide to steadfastly support multilateralism. We believe that various parties will voice the firm support for multilateralism and an open world economy. The second is to progress with the times to enrich the principles and concepts of cooperation. We will follow through on effective and well-received concepts and rules such as extensive consultation, joint construction and shared benefits to further enrich the theoretical connotations of the BRI. The third is to march forward hand-in-hand to build a network of partnerships. Bilateral, trilateral and multilateral cooperation has been reinforcing each other under the BRI, laying a solid foundation for a closer and more wide-ranging partnership. The fourth is being action-oriented to forge a strong supporting system. We hope to, together with our cooperation partners, make more mechanism arrangements which meet the needs of high-quality development and better facilitate the advancement and implementation of cooperation projects. The fifth is working internally and externally to unleash the dividends of reform and opening up. The Chinese side will showcase the achievements and measures of reform and opening up to further share the dividends of China's economic growth. This practice will also surely bring more opportunities for pushing the joint construction of the BRI as well as common development among various countries.

Wang Yi stated that the ancient silk routes, with a spirit of equal cooperation featuring peace and cooperation, openness and inclusiveness, mutual learning and mutual benefit, are the joint spiritual heritage of all countries. We believe that through the second BRF, we will surely carry forward the spirit of the Silk Road, build extensive partnership, inject stronger impetus into the world economy, open even broader horizons for the development of all countries, and contribute to the building of a community with a shared future for mankind.