China builds more amicable, vibrant neighborhood with Belt and Road Initiative

(Xinhua) Updated: 2015-12-28 16:55

"The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, a pioneer project under the initiative, has provided a powerful boost to Pakistan's economy," Khan said. "China's investment in Pakistan's energy and infrastructure also bolstered foreign investors' confidence in the Southern Asian country."

Alignment with eeu

In the Eurasian region, most of China's neighbors have expressed willingness to link their own development strategies with the Belt and Road Initiative.

Russia, a comprehensive strategic partner of coordination to China, has agreed to integrate its aspirations under the EEU framework, whose main objective is to form a single market within the borders of its member countries by 2025, with the Silk Road Economic Belt proposal.

During Xi's visit to Russia in May, Xi and Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a joint statement on the alignment of the Silk Road Economic Belt and the EEU.

Observers said the joint statement, another major development of the Belt and Road Initiative in Eurasia, is of important and far-reaching significance to the economic growth in the region and the world at large.

During a summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) in Russia's Ufa in July, Xi and Putin agreed to regard the regional bloc as an important platform to dovetail the Silk Road Economic Belt plan with the EEU blueprint.

Mars Saliev, a Kyrgyz political analyst, said he believes that the Belt and Road Initiative would provide a powerful boost to the economic development of SCO members.

Recalling that over the past years Kyrgyzstan has transported a large quantity of goods from China to other SCO members and even European countries, he said the Belt and Road Initiative offers Kyrgyzstan new opportunities to become a major transit center in Eurasia.

If the railway project between China and Kyrgyzstan is successfully implemented, the Central Asian country will obtain a convenient route through Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan to Europe, the analyst said.

Huge potential for asean's development

Following the announcement of the Silk Road Economic Belt initiative in Kazakhstan in September 2013, Xi traveled to southeast Asia a month later and unveiled the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road initiative to strengthen regional infrastructure and trade with countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).