BEIJING, Sept. 7 (Xinhua) -- In view of the new developments in globalization seven years ago, President Xi Jinping put forward the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) for international cooperation. Since then, China has signed BRI cooperation documents with 138 countries. Trade in goods with partner countries has exceeded 7.8 trillion U.S. dollars, and direct investment surpassed 110 billion dollars, providing a strong boost to local employment and social and economic development.
In the first half of this year, China's investment in BRI countries increased by 19.4 percent.
Xi has emphasized the BRI cooperation on many occasions in the past few years. The following are some highlights of his quotes:
-- The BRI may be China's idea, but its opportunities and outcomes are going to benefit the world. China has no geopolitical motives, seeks no exclusionary blocs, and imposes no business deals on others.
-- Thanks to our efforts in the past few years, a general framework of cooperation has been put in place. It's like completing a drawing: The outline has been sketched; now we must fill in the fine details. And we need to do so with meticulous care.
-- The BRI China launched is designed to mobilize more resources, strengthen connectivity, leverage potential growth drivers, and connect markets. It is designed to integrate more countries and regions into economic globalization and achieve shared prosperity through mutually beneficial cooperation.
-- Belt and Road cooperation embraces the historic trend of economic globalization, responds to the call for improving the global governance system, and addresses people's desire for a better life.
-- China will continue to act in the principle of extensive consultation, joint contribution and shared benefits, and pursue open, green, and clean cooperation under the BRI. China will continue to follow a high-standard, people-centered, and sustainable approach to promote high-quality Belt and Road cooperation with partner countries. Enditem
