Editor's note:
President Xi Jinping proposed the Belt and Road Initiative in 2013. The Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st-Century Maritime Silk Road initiative aims to create a trade and infrastructure network connecting Asia with Europe and Africa along ancient trade routes.
Since then, more than 100 countries and international organizations have backed the initiative, with more than 40 signing cooperation agreements with China.
In May, China will host a Belt and Road forum for international cooperation in Beijing. Let's look back at some of the important comments Xi has made on the initiative in the last three years.
Proposing an 'economic belt along the Silk Road'
President Xi Jinping delivers the historic speech at the Nazarbayev University in Astana, Kazakhstan, Sept 7, 2013. [Photo / Xinhua]
To create the new economic belt, Xi suggested China and Central Asian countries accelerate policy communication, improve road connectivity, promote unimpeded trade, enhance monetary circulation and enhance understanding.
Call to build a new 'maritime silk road'
President Xi Jinping delivers a speech to Indonesian lawmakers at the House of Representatives of Indonesia in Jakarta, capital of Indonesia, Oct 3, 2013. [Photo / Xinhua]
In a speech to the Indonesian parliament in 2013, Xi said that in order to build the new "maritime silk road", China will strengthen maritime cooperation with ASEAN countries "to make good use of the China-ASEAN Maritime Cooperation Fund set up by the Chinese government".
During the speech, Xi underscored the "shared destiny" of China and ASEAN members, saying that China was ready to open itself wider to ASEAN countries and enable ASEAN countries to benefit more from China's development.
Countries invited to be part of Silk Road Economic Belt
President Xi Jinping at the 14th meeting of the Council of Heads of State of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization in Dushanbe, capital of Tajikistan, Sept 12, 2014. [Photo / Xinhua]
Xi said that China would welcome Shanghai Cooperation Organization's member states, observers and dialogue partners to actively participate in the joint construction of the Silk Road Economic Belt to promote regional connectivity and the progress of the new-type industrialization.
$40b pledge on Silk Road fund
President Xi Jinping with the leaders of neighboring countries ahead of a meeting on strengthening connectivity partnerships in Beijing, Nov 8, 2014. [Photo / Xinhua]
In November 2014, Xi announced that China would contribute $40 billion to set up a Silk Road fund that would boost infrastructure and resource development while improving industrial and financial cooperation along the centuries-old Silk Road trading routes.
Initiative not a solo project by China
President Xi Jinping makes a speech at the Boao Forum for Asia in South China's island province of Hainan on March 28, 2015. [Photo / Xinhua]
"The initiative will be open and inclusive, not exclusive," Xi told the Boao Forum for Asia in 2015.
"It will be a real chorus comprising all countries along the routes, not a solo for China itself. To develop the Belt and Road is not to replace existing mechanisms or initiatives for regional cooperation. Much to the contrary, we will build on the existing basis to help countries align their development strategies and form complementarity."
South Asia important partner
Xi Jinping makes a speech at the Pakistani Parliament in Islamabad on April 21, 2015. [Photo / Xinhua]
"The initiative of building the Belt and Road Initiative is a significant move to fully open up itself under the new conditions," Xi said during a speech at the Pakistani Parliament in April, 2015.
"South Asia is where the land and maritime Silk Roads meet. It is therefore a focal area and important cooperation partner for advancing the initiative. Good progress has been made in building the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor and the Bangladesh-China-India-Myanmar Economic Corridor which are closely connected with the land and maritime Silk Roads," he said.
Broader, deeper regional cooperation
President Xi Jinping addresses the APEC Economic CEO Summit in Manila, the Philippines, Nov 18, 2015. [Photo / Xinhua]
"Through implementing the Belt and Road Initiative, we will go for even broader, deeper and more sophisticated cooperation at the regional level and jointly foster a regional framework of open, inclusive, balanced and mutually beneficial cooperation," Xi said at a keynote speech at the APEC CEO Summit in Manila, Philippines, in Nov, 2015.
Chongqing to 'go out' through initiative
President Xi Jinping talks with workers during a visit to Guoyuan Port in Southwest China's Chongqing municipality, Jan 4, 2016. [Photo / Xinhua]
The Belt and Road Initiative will provide a bigger platform for Chongqing to "go out", Xi said during an inspection of Southwest China's Chongqing municipality in Jan, 2016.
He hoped Chongqing would play a major role in the Go West campaign, which actively engages in the development of the Belt and Road Initiative and the Yangtze River Economic Zone and creates new achievements in the process of building a well-off society.
Founding of AIIB
President Xi Jinping addresses the opening ceremony of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) in Beijing, on Jan 16, 2016. [Photo / Xinhua]
"China stands ready to work with other parties to make sure that the AIIB will start to operate and play its due role as soon as possible and contribute to economic growth and better livelihood in developing countries," Xi said at the opening of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank in Beijing, Jan 16, 2016.
"China continues to welcome AIIB and other international financial institutions to take part in the building of the Silk Road Economic Belt and 21st Century Maritime Silk Road," he said.
Aid for Arab development
President Xi Jinping delivers a speech at the Arab League headquarters in Cairo, Egypt, Jan 21, 2016. [Photo / Xinhua]
Speaking at the Arab League headquarters in Jan 2016, President Xi said that instead of looking for a proxy in the Middle East, China promotes peace talks; instead of seeking any sphere of influence, China calls on all countries to join the circle of friends for the "Belt and Road"; instead of attempting to fill the "vacuum", China builds a cooperative partnership network for mutual benefits and win-win results.
Transport infrastructure key to initiative
President Xi Jinping talks with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani in Tehran, Iran, Jan 23, 2016. [Photo / Xinhua]
"Connectivity is the artery of the Belt and Road Initiative. In building connectivity, we should give priority to Asian countries and start with transportation infrastructure," Xi said in an article published in an Iranian newspaper in Jan, 2016, ahead of his state visit to the country.
Initiative to boost China's greening campaign
Xi Jinping attends a voluntary tree planting activity in Beijing on April 5, 2016. [Photo/Xinhua]
China will promote afforestation via multilateral cooperation mechanisms, such as the Belt and Road Initiative, so as to cope with global challenges such as climate change, and to contribute its due share to global ecological security, Xi said while attending a voluntary tree planting in Beijing last year.
IT companies encouraged to go global
President Xi Jinping presides over a symposium on cyberspace security and informatization in Beijing, April 19, 2016. [Photo / Xinhua]
"We need to encourage our internet and IT companies to go global, to deepen international exchanges and cooperation, and to participate actively in the Belt and Road Initiative, so as to ensure that IT covers China's national interests wherever they are found," Xi said at a symposium on cyberspace security and informatization on April 19, 2016.
Call for a 'green, healthy, intelligent and peaceful' Silk Road
President Xi Jinping delivers a speech at the Uzbek Supreme Assembly in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, June 22, 2016. [Photo / Xinhua]
In Uzbekistan in June 2016, Xi suggested partner countries deepen cooperation on environmental protection, intensify ecological preservation and build a green Silk Road.
"We need to deepen cooperation in medical care and health, strengthen win-win cooperation in the alert of communicable diseases, disease prevention and control, medical assistance and traditional medicine, and build a Silk Road for health," the president said.
Meanwhile, on human resources cooperation, China proposed a vocational skills cooperation alliance to train and produce professionals in various fields to build an intelligent Silk Road.
On the security front, the president called for fostering a security governance model with Asian features and building a Silk Road for peace.
Share development opportunities and achieve common prosperity
President Xi Jinping delivers a speech at the B20 summit in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province on Sept 3, 2016. [Photo / Xinhua]
"The Belt and Road Initiative is to share China's development opportunities with countries along the route and achieve common prosperity. China's opening drive is not a one-man show. Rather, it is an invitation open to all. It is a pursuit not to establish China's own sphere of influence, but to support common development of all countries. It is meant to build not China's own backyard garden, but a garden shared by all countries," Xi said in a speech at the B20 summit in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, in September last year.
SOEs key force in implementing initiative
President Xi Jinping speaks during a national meeting held from Oct 10 to 11, 2016, on building the role of the Party within State-owned enterprises (SOEs) in Beijing. [Photo / Xinhua]
During a national meeting on building the role of the Party within State-owned enterprises held in October last year Xi said that SOEs should become important forces to implement decisions of the CPC Central Committee, the new development concept, deepened reform, major strategies such as the "going out" strategies and the Belt and Road Initiative, as well as to enhance overall national power, economic and social development and people's wellbeing.
Shanghai FTZ to be bridgehead for initiative
Xi attends a panel discussion with Shanghai lawmakers at the National People's Congress annual plenary session on March 5, 2017. [Photo / Xinhua]
The free trade zone of Shanghai should become a bridgehead for the country's Belt and Road Initiative and help market entities go global, Xi said during a panel discussion with Shanghai lawmakers at the National People's Congress annual plenary session in March.
