Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Tuesday put forward proposals including deepening public health cooperation for the high-quality development of the Belt and Road cooperation.
Wang attended and addressed the fifth Silk Road International Exposition, as well as the Investment and Trade Forum for Cooperation between East and West China in Xi’an, capital city of northwest China’s Shaanxi Province.
Wang called for the deepening of public health cooperation in an all-around way to cope with the COVID-19 pandemic.
He said that Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) partners should strengthen unity, carry out information sharing and joint prevention and control.
He also advised them to strengthen international cooperation in vaccine research, production and distribution to realise vaccine accessibility and affordability in developing countries.
The Minister called for enhanced connectivity to consolidate the foundation for higher-level development.
He said that BRI partners should accelerate the improvement of channels for personnel exchanges and cargo transportation.
He advised them to also strengthen the infrastructure connectivity, promote the alignment of rules and standards, and deepen cooperation in digital interconnectivity.
BRI partners should stick to mutually beneficial and win-win cooperation, and build a higher-quality economic and trade cooperation platform.
He noted that partners should firmly safeguard the multilateral trading system, promote the construction of free trade zones and build an open world economy.
According to him, they should accelerate cooperation in emerging areas such as cross-border e-commerce and cloud exhibitions.
BRI partners should also focus on green and sustainable development, Wang said, calling for cooperation in the fields of green infrastructure, green energy and green finance.
Slovak First Deputy Prime Minister and Economy Minister Richard Sulik, Kyrgyz Foreign Minister Ruslan Kazakbaev, Tajik Foreign Minister Sirojiddin Muhriddin and Turkmen Deputy Prime Minister attended the meeting.
Foreign Minister Rashid Meredov, and Uzbek Foreign Minister Abdulaziz Kamilov also attended the opening ceremony and delivered speeches via video link.
Hailing the fruits of the joint construction of the Belt and Road, the officials said they looked forward to deepening pragmatic cooperation with China in various fields under the framework of the BRI.
It would also strengthen international anti-pandemic cooperation, and promoting the early recovery of the regional and world economies.