Europe's energetic bottom-up response to Belt and Road

In recent weeks, China's Belt and Road Initiative, the Silk Road Economic Belt and 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, has got several bottom-up but energetic responses from Europe. Among them was the formation of the Europe and China tourism and cultural development committee a few days ago in Brussels. The committee is the brainchild of Benard Dewit, chairman of the Belgian-Chinese Chamber of Commerce and other key European brains.

The rational behind the formation of the committee is to better serve Chinese tourists whose steadily rising numbers have become a key driver of Europe's tourism sector and and its infrastructure development.

Before the committee was formed, China EU, a Brussels-based non-profit organization, whose aim is to promote EU-China exchanges in the internet and telecommunications sectors, had organized a panel discussion in London on how to insert digital content into the Belt and Road Initiative and develop a "Digital Silk Road".