Open, inclusive initiative builds road toward prosperity

The Belt and Road Initiative has seen plenty of questions and suspicions surrounding its purpose, feasibility and prospects in the less than six years of its existence.

What has driven the world's second-largest economy to come up with such an expansive initiative as countries scramble for self-protection in the face of rising unilateralism? How has such an ambitious, more or less futuristic idea gained traction in the first place?

Indeed, in 2013 when President Xi Jinping proposed the initiative, how many people expected it to evolve into an effective development mechanism drawing so many countries together?