Initiative seen as tool to promote balance

The Belt and Road Initiative can be an important conduit for a new globalization that promotes balanced development, a top adviser in the field said.

"The initiative not only concerns roads and infrastructure but is about development," said Zhao Baige, chairwoman of the advisory committee of the Belt and Road Initiative International Think Tank under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

"It emphasizes not only business but also humans. It can help solve the challenges globalization is facing, such as uneven development and growing gaps between rich and poor," said Zhao, who also served as vice-chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the 12th National People's Congress, China's top legislature, from 2014 to 2018.