Initiative charting new trajectory for mankind

It was no doubt the unique circumstances of China's internal and external developments during the first decade of this century that convinced President Xi Jinping to place the Belt and Road Initiative at the top of China's foreign policy agenda.

First, it corresponded well with the overall economic situation. China had become the second-largest economy in the world, and the technological advances it had made, particularly in a number of fields like high-speed rail, had astonished the world. It also possessed the financial means of initiating a program of such magnitude, which comprises the Silk Road Economic Belt and 21st Century Maritime Silk Road.

Second, it was the ideal platform for a "good neighbor policy". The rise of China, the largest country in the region by far, had created some concerns among its smaller neighbors. But a China which showed itself willing to help them move forward on the road to progress could not be seen as anything but an important benefactor