Initiative marks transition of grand vision

The Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation marks a transition of high symbolism in President Xi Jinping's grand vision for a new era of win-win globalization. The core idea is to structure, finance and build critical infrastructure in developing economies, as well as diversify and expand the Chinese economy, which needs restructuring.

This is the fourth Belt and Road forum I will attend.

Xi announced the Silk Road Economic Belt as a "grand cause benefiting people in regional countries along the ancient route" in Kazakhstan in September 2013. In June 2014, I was asked to articulate the vision at the first Belt and Road forum in Urumqi, Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region. I described five categories: history, culture, trade, mutual development and peaceful development.