The fourth symposium on the Belt and Road Initiative has been held in Beijing. Chinese President Xi Jinping stressed the need for comprehensively advancing high-quality cooperation. Our reporter You Yang sat down with a number of former world leaders for their insights on the global initiative.
MULATU TESHOME, Former President of Ethiopia “You know the BRI is about connectivity, connecting China to other countries. Another good example is the Ethiopian Airlines. Ethiopian Airlines flies even to Guangzhou city, to Beijing, to several other cities in China. That connectivity really it is not only about physical buildings of roads or railways. It has got a very deep meaning of friendship, the sentimental attachment between Africans and the Chinese.”
JHALA NATH KHANAL, Former Nepali Prime Minister “BRI project in my view is a great international project within ten years time, many projects have been implemented. Over 150 countries have entered the agreements with BRI. More than 3,000 projects have been agreed.”
ESSAM SHARAF, Former Egyptian Prime Minister “The BRI is a very important global initiative, is the first of four initiatives launched by President Xi in 2013 and the historic one. It’s historic. Why? Because it is the largest international cooperation platform. Started with one country called China and now has the cooperation documents including more than one hundred forty countries and more than thirty international organizations. So it never happened. It connects people not only by a physical infrastructure but also through people connectivity.”
Source: CGTN