Los Angeles—“Belt and Road initiative is of great significance to China and the world as a whole,” said Sun Lushan, the Acting Consul General of China in Los Angeles, in his keynote speech to Silk Road American Forum, which opens today at J.W. Marriott in downtown Los Angeles.
“Belt and Road”, or “One Belt One Road”, refers to the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century maritime Silk Road. The initiative, first proposed by Chinese President Xi Jinping in 2013, serves as China’s national development strategy. The area of the initiative primarily covers around 60 countries in Asia and Europe, and could naturally been extended to north and south Americas.
According to Sun, the initiative has been converted from idea to action and from vision to reality. More than 100 countries and international organizations have endorsed or participated in the initiative.
Sun added, the reason the initiative draws worldwide recognition is that it provides a solution to global issues. As President Xi pointed out, development is “the master key” to solving all the problems facing the world, while the Belt and Road initiative is “the golden key”.
In last April President Xi invited the United States to be actively involved in the initiative during his meeting with President Trump at Mar-a-Lago, Florida. The United States subsequently sent a high level delegation to Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation held in May in Beijing, China.
President Trump will pay a state visit to China next week. Trade is among the issues to be addressed by the summit meeting.
