Harness comparative strengths, unleash development potential

Visiting Premier Li Keqiang witnessed the signing of a cooperation agreement between China and New Zealand under the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative on Monday. This is the first agreement of its kind China has inked with a developed Western economy, indicating China's initiative is gaining both popularity and substantial progress.

The initiative, put forward by President Xi Jinping in 2013, aims to revive the ancient overland and maritime Silk Road trade routes with a focus on infrastructure and trade. The initiative is increasingly looked upon as a way of resurrecting the globalization trend and achieving common development, and a growing number of countries are participating in it.

New Zealand has set many precedents for China's relations with developed Western economies: It was the first to conclude bilateral negotiations on China's accession to the World Trade Organization, the first to recognize China's full market-economy status, the first to sign and implement a bilateral free trade agreement with China and the first to join the China-initiated Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank as a founding member.