The Belt and Road Initiative promotes international cooperation

Xi Jinping: The Governance of China 

Modernization. We have to be very careful what we describe as modernization. I think it's a continuity with the change. So we are continuing changing, which is happening all the time. Innovation and modernization are happening since Confucius time, is not something we just discovered.

It is through deep thinking, learning, working together at different levels of society. But also modernization in terms of, for example, now the e-commerce, what we have here is seamless integration of way we can pay. I really love it, it's a wonderful system, with the e-commerce platforms, such as Taobao, with the ability of people to make short videos and to promote their products from far away a place. I like walnuts, and for that, there are so many beautiful places in China, which would like to sell it.

It would have been very difficult for us to know where they are. So they can introduce their fruits and their nuts, and all of that. And then seamlessly ordering and the system of transportation and it reaches to my doorstep. This is real modernization, e-commerce linking also with innovation and creativity of people and for them to be able to market with their commodities.

But also very, interestingly, in the system, if you don't like something, you can return it as well. This is the whole value chain which has been developed with the cloud computing with the big data, the power of our mobile phones and all of that.

That's where UNESCO is now working with a number of stakeholders in China on the ethics of AI and how can we use big data. But at the same time, big data are very important for the UN, we have a special UN center for big data in China with the Chinese Academy of Sciences,and China can offer the platforms.

And the number of our UNESCO centers like with the Academy of Engineering, with the Tsinghua University. Those centers are already offering many types of data available as we call it open data and open science and bringing the technologies to the next level. You already mentioned that you have tried so many Chinese tasteful gourmets. We have in UNESCO what we call creative cities.  One of the designations of creative cities is about gastronomy, gastronomy about food. So we have a number of those gastronomy cities in China, like Macao, for example, very beautiful, Macao food is very special, but also there are other cities here as well. So the food from China has very unique characteristics.

For the outside world is Chinese food, but within China there is so much diversity, like Sichuan food, for example, or the Guangdong food, for example, and Shandong food, for example.All of them are very special in their own ways and the different cuisines which have come through.

It's also modernization. I went to Guangdong province and I was so amazed with the skills of the chefs. They could cut the fish so thin and so fast and so wonderful. And they could use a buffalo milk to create a special dish within a very short period of time.

So all it needs is to warm up milk. You take some ginger juice and put inside, and it turns into a beautiful dessert for you.

I learned from them, so very, very special. So all of those special foods which is China offers, they are special for the whole world, and also Chinese tea.

China has transformed itself in terms of roles. The roles have become really one of the best in the world in terms of telecommunications, in terms of university infrastructure, in terms of bridges. We have seen that progress. And so Belt and Road is a very innovative initiative of President Xi. With 10 years, 155 countries have now benefited from it a more than a trillion dollars.

It is a very key initiative to help build infrastructure where it is needed, because infrastructure is necessary for our sustainable development. We need infrastructure for us to provide access, let's say, from our fields, from agriculture produce to the markets.

But also at the same time, infrastructure to help people to get connected through our railways and through our projects,，which are through our roads, for example, or infrastructure for providing access to water through dams, for example, or by building academic institutions, for example.

So it has been a wonderful project, more than 3,000 projects. And more than 420,000 persons got jobs because of this as well.

Certainly a very ambitious project and very generous in terms of the total investment.

And in many cases, If there was no such investment with the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, maybe this progress would not be possible for Pakistan to build the roads all the way to Gwadar,which is a major port, which I know in Balochistan, providing access to a completely new seaport, which can actually be future for Pakistan and for China to bring goods and services to the gulf states and going all the way to the Europe.

Only then we can change this world. So I really commend President Xi for being very bold and for Chinese people to invest their own oney. And then the linkages which have been created through the Belt and Road Initiative between people including also with the UNESCO work with the world heritage sites.

And also this reference back to the Silk Roads. Silk Road by the way is UNESCO world heritage also. There are many other world heritage sites along these Silk Roads, and there is a culture to be exchanged.

So the Silk Roads were very important routes for trading of silk, for tea,and also for bringing back, for example, spices, bringing back many other products.

So the Belt and Road Initiative brings that spirit and the Maritime Silk Road and then linking, for example, with Indonesia, the example, we have the project linking Jakarta to Bandung, very, very wonderful project. I always pray that this opportunity becomes real success for everyone, and that's what the United Nations is trying to do. It's very much aligned with what we are trying to do with the Sustainable Development Goals, and with the Sustainable Development Goals and Belt and Road Initiative or Global Development Initiative or Global Civilization Initiative.

They are basically very much aligned, about bringing prosperity through multilateralism, through respect for other cultures and respect for people.

And this is really a great initiative. related to technology cooperation. Just now you already mentioned, but I want to invite you to share more your thoughts on how can different countries really work together to share the good outcome of technology corporations and to really work together.

There is also a challenge about the trust as well, and how do we create that trust and the feeling of more transparency on all sides. So that needs more, I would say, technical cooperation, cultural cooperation, and more of people who can understand all those difficult areas as well.

So that's why the role of science and technology is very important. UNESCO has a number of UNESCO chairs in China, which are connecting with the Belt and Road countries including in Beijing.

For example, we have set up a new chair at the Petroleum University which is linking issues such as climate change and carbon neutrality.

So there are those things which are happening. Chinese Academy of Sciences established a new geoscience center at the Cardiff University in Islamabad, which is also a very important step forward for linking the higher education institutions together.

So that cooperation already has started to happen. There are joint university initiatives like the university in Pakistan about marine science, which is supported by China. Similarly, in Africa, there are institutions which are actively linking with the institutions here.

But this may not be enough. We need to do more. We need to have joint centers. We need to have joint chairs, chairs which are equally supported by China and by countries in Africa, by countries along the Belt and Road.

So I think that's the next step for the Belt and Road Initiative, for bringing more technical cooperation, bringing more tourism through culture and innovation, and also opening up the markets like we have in China now anywhere in China. People producing different goods and services, they can link to anyone anywhere.

So if we can achieve if we can go to that level, and then connectivity with the train networks, with the road networks, should be able to promote tourism, should be able to promote new opportunities for the local people.

Author ：Shahbaz Khan