China ready to help make world a better place

President Xi Jinping's "Belt and Road Initiatives" are the most significant and far-reaching proposal that China has ever put forward. It has aroused great interest in the international media. To understand the initiatives, we need to take a closer look at the world, China and the initiatives themselves. The "Belt and Road Initiatives", the Silk Road Economic Belt and 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, span 65 countries and 4.4 billion people. They are China's most important and strategic initiatives.

They are well-thought-out initiatives which take into account the world's need, the reality in Asia and China's own situation. In regard to the world's need, we can find three significant features.

First, the Middle East and North Africa have become the epicenter of turbulence and regional conflicts. The "Arab Spring" of 2010 triggered a major political earthquake in the region that fell many strong men. The Syrian civil war has been going on for more than four years, claiming the lives of about 200,000 people and rendering millions homeless. The war between the Islamic State and the anti-IS alliance has been raging for more than a year. Some parts of Libya have become the stronghold of the IS in North Africa. And we can't foresee the end of turbulence in the region despite the tireless efforts of the international community.