Silk Road Countries, Unite!

The Silk Road Economic Belt and 21stCentury Maritime Silk Road Initiative proposed by President Xi Jinping in 2013 has been applauded by countries along the routes and has made rapid strides in development. The Belt and Road Initiative also topped President Xis agenda during his recent visit to Serbia， Poland and Uzbekistan， which began on June 17. Xi ended his trip by attending the 16th Summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization in Tashkent， Uzbekistan， on June 23-24.

The arrival of the first China Railway Express cargo train in Poland on June 20 exemplified one of the latest breakthroughs of the Belt and Road Initiative. Accompanied by Polish President Andrzej Duda， Xi attended a ceremony marking the event in Warsaw. The trans-continental train service began in 2011 before adopting the umbrella name earlier this month. A total of 39 cargo train routes connect China with Europe.

Under the Belt and Road Initiative， multiple other joint infrastructure projects have been carried out， such as the Belgrade-Budapest Railway， Belgrades Mihajlo Pupin Bridge， Serbias E763 Motorway， the expansion and upgrading of Serbias Kostolac Power Plant， and the acquisition of Serbias Smederevo steel plant by the HeSteel Group. These projects are the outcome of cooperation between China and other countries along the ancient Silk Road routes. Although countries involved in the initiative have different national conditions and cultures， they are able to work in concert to achieve shared progress based on mutual respect and the shelving of differences.

Currently， the shadows of the global financial crisis and the European debt crisis still linger， leading to sluggish economic growth. Under such circumstances， the worlds economies should seek close collaboration with each other to confront the problems together. The Belt and Road Initiative has provided a viable platform for relevant countries and regions to push for regional economic prosperity and maintain world peace and stability.

It should be noted that the Belt and Road Initiative remains at a preliminary stage. The countries involved in the initiative should dovetail their development plans and coordinate their policies. They should also raise public awareness of the initiative while pursuing closer collaboration with each other， with a focus on facilitating trade and buoying the economic outlook.

China has the confidence and ability to maintain medium-to-high economic growth， and such growth will bring tangible benefits to every country participating in the Belt and Road Initiative. In a nutshell， the initiative aims to help forge a community in which prosperity and development are shared by all.