Towards a Community with a Shared Future for Mankind: Theoretical Basis and Practical Logic of Jointly Advancing the Belt and Road Initiative

The Belt and Road Initiative （BRI） has embarked on a decade-long journey since its proposal in 2013 and has gone through such tough challenges as the COVID-19， the Ukraine crisis and intensifying rivalry among major countries. Rising to these challenges head-on， the BRI has shown strong resilience and vitality. On the occasion of the 10th anniversary of the vision of a community with a shared future for mankind， it is of strategic importance to summarize the decade-long implementation of the BRI and dig into the theoretical basis and practical logic of the high-quality development of the BRI.

The BRI is the Path to a Community with a Shared Future for Mankind

As the world is undergoing major changes unseen in a century， humanity is faced with such severe challenges as the deficit in governance， trust， peace and development. Jointly advancing the BRI is a crucial path to building a community with a shared future for mankind.

First， adhering to a correct view of history， the BRI stands at the historical height of the theme of our times and the international landscape， and provides an insightful answer to where humanity is heading， an important question of the world， of history and of our times. Driven by economic globalization and the information technology revolution， peace， development， cooperation and common progress have become the trend of the times. As a new round of technological and industrial revolutions is taking shape， new momentum for innovation-driven development is building up. With ever profound integration of interests， countries are unprecedentedly inter-linked. The BRI follows the general development trend of today’s world， reflects the grand transformation of human history， represents a new vision of pursuing common global development in an open world economy， different from the anti-trend door-closing approach to development， represented by unilateralism， protectionism and xenophobia.

Second， looking at the bigger picture， the BRI takes into account both domestic and international dynamics， advances development and security in a coordinated way and builds an international cooperation platform enabling benign interaction between high-quality development and high-level security. In the face of mounting new problems and challenges since the beginning of the 21st century， the US Solution centering on the Washington Consensus， the European Solution focusing on promoting regional integration and the Japanese Solution depending on government-driven development have all fallen off the pedestal and some have even triggered more serious problems. The BRI stands as an important attempt to build an open world economy and a community with a shared future for mankind. It is a new development strategy and also a great vision with an eye on the common development of China， the region and the whole world. As a China-proposed solution for world peace and development， the BRI aims to foster a new type of international relations with win-win cooperation at the core and has become an engine to kick off a new round of world economic growth; The BRI represents a new development vision different from the Washington Consensus， regional integration and global hegemony， and opens up a new path to coordinately promote global development and security.

Third， adhering to the correct view of roles， the BRI combines “viewing the world from China” and “viewing China from the world” to accurately get the new direction of the common development of China and the world. As it pursues development， China faces ever more intense competition from other major countries. Also as China advances its overseas interests， it is deeply integrated with the rest of the world in such fields as food， energy， resources， technology， market， and finance， all of which have become critical factors affecting its peaceful development. In essence， the BRI focuses on global public issues and people’s needs， follows the principles of extensive consultation， joint contribution and shared benefits and leverages on bilateral， sub-regional， regional and global mechanisms to promote the orderly and free flow of economic factors， efficient allocation of resources and close integration of markets. The BRI also aims to facilitate coordination of economic policies among countries， promote closer regional cooperation at a larger scale and higher level， jointly create an open， inclusive， balanced regional economic cooperation framework that delivers benefits to all and innovate the actions， processes， and structures of global public goods. Therefore， the BRI is essentially a global public good with extensive consultation， joint contribution and shared benefits for all parties， featuring non-competition， non-exclusiveness and non-zero sum. Any country， whether it is a BRI partner or not， is welcomed to join this inclusive community with shared interests， shared future and shared responsibilities.

Theoretical Basis for High-Quality Belt and Road Cooperation

From the grand perspective of building a community with a shared future for mankind， the BRI， as an international public good， follows the basic principles of consensus-driven development， joint contribution of multiple parties， equal responsibilities and rights， composite representation， openness and inclusiveness.

I. Consensus-Driven Development

American scholar Robert D. Putnam defines social capital as value norms of reciprocity and mutual trust formed on the basis of trust with “features of social organization” that facilitate coordination and cooperation to improve social efficiency. As an initiative focusing on international cooperation and development， the BRI cannot work without social capital based on international exchanges and dialogues and supported by consensus and trust. Serving as a platform for international exchanges， the BRI is well-positioned to foster consensus and trust in the international community， ignite mutual love and care， and build up social capital. Once the international social capital is built up and fully unleashed， the BRI will advance like a fire on the prairie. Within the BRI framework， the top priority of international cooperation is to promote government-to-government policy communication and cement people-to-people bond.