Book issued in five more languages

Five new foreign-language editions of The Belt and Road Initiative, a book of President Xi Jinping's discourses on the BRI, were launched in Beijing on Monday.

The new editions are in Arabic, Spanish, Portuguese, German and Japanese, in addition to the previous English, French and Russian editions.

The book has 42 articles excerpted from Xi's speeches and remarks on the BRI between September 2013 and July 2018.

Wang Gang, deputy head of the Publicity Department of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, said the editions of the book in different foreign languages will present Xi's vision on the BRI to the international community and help improve understanding of its significance and achievements.

Syrian Ambassador to China Muhammad Hasanein Khaddam said that Xi's words and ideas about the BRI will consolidate the global understanding of Chinese philosophy and civilization in the modern era and will constitute a reference on the importance of the initiative.

"The BRI calls for a common space in which all birds fly, regardless of the color," he said, adding that it does not "enforce the will of big states on other countries".