Sharing Belt and Road ideas crucial, Xi says

He also stressed the importance of the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, the maritime route of the Belt and Road that winds through Southeast Asia and South Asia and to Africa and beyond.

He said it was important for this Silk Road to develop a "blue economy" that works toward the goal of sustainable marine development.

Parag Khanna, author of The Future Is Asian: Global Order in the Twenty-First Century, said Xi was right to stress the ecological aspects of maritime development.

"Maritime countries are facing rising sea levels and have different sets of policy priorities and prescriptions than countries not faced with such issues," he said.

"The broader issue of ecosystem stress arising from population growth, urbanization and infrastructure development to facilitate the extraction of commodities is something the Belt and Road needs to address."

Xi also sent a congratulatory message to the Belt and Road News Network First Council Meeting, which was held in Beijing on Tuesday. He called on participating media outlets to tell the stories of the initiative in a way that shapes favorable public opinion about BRI cooperation.

The news network is a nongovernmental, nonprofit organization.

Meanwhile, the English and French versions of a collection of Xi Jinping's speeches and writings on the BRI, edited by the Institute of Party History and Literature of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, were published on Wednesday.

Cai Hong, Cao Desheng and Zhao Lei contributed to this story.