WILLEMSTAD - In an exclusive interview with the Consul General of the People’s Republic of China, Mr. Zhang Weixin, several topics were discussed, including the recently held Second Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation (BRF) in China at the end of April this year.
To the question what he can tell us about this forum, the Consul General said that the BRF was successfully held in Beijing during April 25th and 27th. Its theme was “Belt and Road Cooperation: Shaping a Brighter Shared Future”. Leaders from 38 countries, United Nations and the International Monetary Fund, as well as more than 6000 guests from over 150 countries and 90 international organizations participated in the forum. For 3 days, they made in-depth exchange of view on Belt and Road cooperation, and regard Belt and Road cooperation as opportunity for common prosperity. They reached extensive consensus on promoting high-quality Belt and Road cooperation and fruitful results with 238 achievements.
This indicates that there was great interest in the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), and Mr. Zhang reacted positively when asked if there will we see more countries joining this initiative.
“Yes! Because the principle, concept and goals of the BRI meet the historical trend of globalization, the call for improving the global governance system and people’s longing for a better life. The principle is extensive consultation, joint contribution and shared benefits. The concept is open, inclusive and transparent cooperation. The goals are to seek mutual benefit and win-win outcome as well as high standard cooperation to improve people’s lives and promote sustainable development. Since the initiative’s inception in 2013, 127 countries and 29 international organizations have signed documents on Belt and Road cooperation with China. The cooperation has brought 6 trillion US dollars trade volume, 80 billion US dollars investment, 82 economic and trade cooperation zones and 300,000 local jobs to the countries along the Belt and Road. BRI has already become the most popular public goods and the largest platform for international cooperation. I am sure that the circle of friends of BRI will be getting larger.”
According to the Consul General, the BRI is a road of openness and inclusiveness. “We firmly support multilateralism and promote economic globalization. It is a road of mutually beneficial cooperation. China will actively promote connectivity to deepen trade and investment cooperation and expand converging interests, add new impetus and vitality to the developing countries along the belt and road and bring more benefits to their people. It is a road of harmonious coexistence. We dedicate to build partnership network, common development by hand in hand. It is a road of integrating civilizations. We will promote equal exchanges among different civilizations for mutual understanding, mutual trust and enhancing friendship by jointly building BRI.”
Mr. Zhang explained that this year marks the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China. Over past seven decades, China turned a poverty-stricken country into the world’s second biggest economy. More than 700 million people were lifted out of poverty in the past four decades. Significantly, China has made life better for more than 1.3 billion people. This is thanks to Chinese people’s hard-working, the leadership of the Communist Party of China and reform and opening- up.
China cannot develop itself in isolation from the rest of the world. Meanwhile, China’s development drives the development of the world. Since 2013, China has contributed more than 30 percent of global growth, more than the United States, Japan and the European Union in total. China has become the largest trading partner of more than 130 countries, creating many jobs for relevant countries. China actively promotes global governance on climate change and other issues through Chinese wisdom and solutions. China is also the largest contributor to UN peacekeepers. All these demonstrate China’s commitment to the world as a responsible great country. But China is still the largest developing country in the world with an annual per capita income less than US $10,000. China will not close its door to the outside world but will open wider and wider to share development opportunities and dividends with other countries. No matter what level of development it has reached, China will always follow the path of peaceful development and pursue a win-win strategy of opening-up.
Curaçao and the Caribbean can also benefit from this initiative. According to the World Bank, the global economic growth rate will increase by at least 0.1% in 2019 due to "Belt and Road" cooperation, which is good news for the economic development of all countries in the world. The BRI is an open road to prosperity. All countries who have interest are welcome to participate.
Mr. Zhang reiterated that the friendship between China and the Netherlands has a long history. In recent years, high-level exchanges between our two countries have been frequent, and the level of pragmatic cooperation under the Belt and Road framework has been continuously improved. The Netherlands is the second largest trading partner and investment destination of China among European Union countries, and the investment from the Netherlands to China ranks 3rd in EU. All twelve provinces of the Netherlands have signed sister city agreements with Chinese relevant provinces and cities. Every year, 350,000 Chinese citizens travel to the Netherlands, and about 10,000 Chinese students are studying there. Latin America and Caribbean are the natural extensions of the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road. 19 countries in the region have signed Belt and Road cooperation documents with China, including Chile, Suriname, Panama, Jamaica, etc. We welcome Dutch Caribbean actively participate in the BRI, and board on the express trains of Sino-Dutch and Sino-Latin America relationship development.
The Consul General also expressed his sentiments on more Chinese investment in the Caribbean and particularly in Curaçao.
He says that China is a developing country with 1.4 billion people. Its development will bring more market opportunities, investment opportunities and development opportunities to the world. In the next 15 years, China will import US $ 4 billion of goods and services and make 2 billion outbound visits. We welcome different countries and regions to take the express train of China's development.
The Chinese government always encourages Chinese enterprises to conduct foreign investment cooperation in accordance with market principles, international rules and local laws, and by principles of consultation and contribution for shared benefits. Meanwhile, we hope the relevant countries should also create an open, fair and transparent environment of investment for Chinese enterprises. Dutch Caribbean have their natural advantages with nice tourism resource and harbor. Chinese Consulate General is ready to be a bridge between China and Curaçao and continue to provide consular service.
