BRI a win-win for China-Europe ties

Chinese and Italian experts believe the Belt and Road Initiative is a great platform for connectivity and expanding win-win cooperation between China and European nations.

Xie Fuzhan, president of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, a leading think tank in China, described BRI and the European Union's strategy to connect Europe and Asia rolled out last year as "highly compatible" with each other in many respects.

The BRI, put forward in 2013, aims to promote connectivity between continents.

"The initiative is carried out according to the principles of wide consultation, joint contribution and shared benefits. It focuses on building connectivity and is committed to aligning development strategies of relevant countries and regions, complementing each other and achieving win-win and shared development," Xie said at a forum in Rome on Wednesday.

The forum, which focuses on the BRI and China's cooperation with Italy and the EU, was sponsored by the academy and two Italian think tanks - the Istituto Luigi Sturzo and the Center for Contemporary China Studies.

Xie applauded the EU's strategy of highlighting the significance of connecting Asia and Europe, for its role in promoting economic growth of the region and for advocating "an all-around, sustainable and rules-based connectivity".

He said China has found a way to tackle the challenge of financing infrastructure and has also gained rich experience and considerable capacity in infrastructure construction, while Europe boasts a well-developed financial market and a relatively well-developed legal system for infrastructure construction.

"Cooperation between China and EU could help realize the great potential of EU's Connecting Europe and Asia strategy and China's Belt and Road Initiative," Xie said.

Xie said he believes the two strategies will be effectively aligned, so long as the two sides uphold the views of open and mutually beneficial cooperation and discard prejudices, resolve misunderstandings, enhance communication and seek consensus in a pragmatic spirit.

"It will become an important platform for achieving mutually beneficial, win-win cooperation between Asia and Europe and for tackling global challenges," he said.

Xie said the memorandum of understanding on BRI signed by China and Italy recently will help unleash the potential for bilateral cooperation, adding that the two ports in Genoa and Trieste that the China plans to help upgrade is expected to become a BRI hub in the Mediterranean.

Italy drew a lot of attention last month by becoming the first G7 nation to sign an MoU on BRI with China during President Xi Jinping's state visit to that country. Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte will attend the second Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation to be held in Beijing later this week.

Alberto Bradanini, a former Italian ambassador to China, said he hopes that by participating in BRI Italy will be able to expand its exports to China.

Bradanini said if the United States abandons its prejudice, the BRI would benefit it as well.

He said the message China is conveying is clear: China has become a new force in the world. It does not want to replace the current political, economic and military power, but wants to join them in correcting the problems in the current systems.

Agostino Giovagnoli, an executive board member of Rome-based Istituto Luigi Sturzo and a professor at Catholic University of Milan, applauded China's BRI.

President Xi's recent visit to Italy has achieved a very positive outcome, Giovagnoli said.

He noted that people-to-people exchanges, as emphasized in the initiative, are especially important. He said that only by boosting the mutual understanding between peoples can the cooperation become stronger.