As a joint research product of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), CDB and Peking University (PKU), the Report on the Economic Development along the Belt and Road (the Report, Chinese and English versions available) was officially released in Beijing on December 11, 2017. The release conference was attended by Wang Yongsheng, Executive Vice President of CDB, and addressed by Wang Bo, Vice President of PKU, Nicholas Rosellini, UNDP Resident Representative in China, and Liu Yong, Chief Economist and Head of the Center for Financial Research & Development of CDB. It was also attended by the representatives from relevant departments of the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC).
It is reported that the Chinese version of the Report provides an analysis of the economic development along the Belt and Road as a whole along with an in-depth research in line with the specific requirements for the construction of the Belt and Road on the following areas: the development of industrial parks, infrastructure interconnection , financial cooperation mechanisms and cultural exchange, as well as the Five-Connection Index that reflects the level of China’s connection with the countries along the Belt and Road in terms of policy exchange, infrastructure interconnection , trade and financing, and people-to-people exchange, and China’s efforts to improve the index. Through an intensive discussion from a historical and global perspective on the global value chain and its inherent relationship with economic development of different countries the Report summarizes the overall economy, trade complementarity and industrial development of the countries along the Belt and Road. Following a review of the shifting trend of the global value chain from a one-way “center-fringe” flowing pattern to a two-way “dual-cycling” pattern, it proposes a theoretical framework for the “two-way global value chain flowing pattern,” thus providing an economic logic for the Belt and Road Initiative. Using internationally accepted language and logic, the English version of the Report analyzes the economic development along the Belt and Road from a global perspective as an effort to tell Chinese stories in an international style and address the shortage of English research reports on the Belt and Road.
According to Liu Yong, as a major knowledge-based outcome of the Action Plan on the Memorandum of Understanding to Advance the Cooperation on the Construction of the Belt and Road signed by the Chinese government and UNDP, the Report reflects CDB’s relentless efforts to serve the construction of the Belt and Road, as well as the goodwill of Chinese and foreign high-level think tanks to jointly improve China’s research capacity and share knowledge.
The three institutions issuing the Report all believe that the countries along the Belt and Road are moving towards mutual development through cooperation on the construction of the Belt and Road. They hope that the Report will provide necessary and effective theoretical and intellectual support for the construction of the Belt and Road, and enhance cooperation on policies and mechanisms between Chinese high-level think tanks and international organizations to promote the smooth implementation of the Belt and Road Initiative as well as the building of a community of shared future.
It is reported that the Chinese version of the Report will be published by the China Social Sciences Press and the English version will be released to the public through the UNDP global service network.
2015 All rights reserved