Multi-continental connectivity for shared destiny

Editor's Note: The Belt and Road Initiative proposed by China is expected to bring big opportunities to the countries and regions involved. But what are the challenges the initiative faces and what are the prospects for its development in the near future? The China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations recently held a seminar on the Initiative; the following are excerpts of some of the participating experts' views:

China proposed the Belt and Road Initiative more for economic reasons than political or strategic needs. And the initiative mainly serves the economic interconnectivity needs of Eurasia. It will connect the Asia-Pacific, where China is a main global producer, with the Middle East and Far East, which are main suppliers of resources, and the European Union, which is a major high-end consumption region. That process will propel the formation of a high-level value chain in Eurasia.

The initiative is not without challenges though, and a major one is how to coordinate among the different economies along the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road. China needs to try to link the initiative with the involved countries' strategies, including Russia's Eurasian Economic Union, Kazakhstan's Bright Road, South Korea's Euroasia Initiative and India's Cotton Route.