Determined Xi Jinping Targets the US... Opposes Sanctions and Decoupling on the Belt and Road Stage (Comprehensive)

Xi Jinping Delivers Speech at 3rd Belt and Road Forum
Emphasizes 'Community of Shared Future for Mankind' and Criticizes US Pressure on China

Chinese President Xi Jinping emphasized the sense of a shared human community and expressed opposition to unilateral sanctions and decoupling. This was a candid expression of dissatisfaction with the U.S.'s pressure on China, made at a gathering of developing country leaders participating in the Belt and Road Initiative.

At the opening ceremony of the 3rd Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation held on the 18th at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, President Xi stated, "We have deeply realized that humanity is an interdependent community with a shared future," adding, "The world must be well for China to be well, and if China is well, the world can be better." He emphasized, "What we pursue is not China's unilateral modernization, but achieving it together with many developing countries and other nations."

[Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

He said, "We have realized that only cooperation and win-win outcomes can accomplish tasks, do good deeds, and achieve great things," and argued, "Considering others' development as a threat and viewing economic interdependence as a risk does not make one's own life better or accelerate development." He went on to stress, "We do not engage in ideological confrontation, geopolitical games, or collective political confrontations, and we oppose unilateral sanctions, economic pressure, and decoupling." This was a pointed criticism of U.S. sanctions on China and attempts to separate supply chains.

President Xi also introduced China’s economic policies, highlighting astronomical trade volumes and proactive investment plans. He said, "We will completely remove restrictions on foreign investment approvals in the manufacturing sector and deepen reforms in state-owned enterprises, the digital economy, intellectual property rights, and government procurement," forecasting that "over the next five years (2024?2028), China’s merchandise trade volume and service trade volume will exceed $32 trillion (approximately 43,176 trillion KRW) and $5 trillion, respectively." He then declared 'nine actions' for joint Belt and Road construction, including building interconnected networks, supporting an open world economy, conducting practical cooperation (establishing a 350 billion yuan financing window, adding 80 billion yuan to the Silk Road Fund), promoting green development (training 100,000 experts), fostering scientific and technological innovation (expanding joint research institutes to 100), supporting private exchanges, promoting integrity research and education, and improving international cooperation mechanisms.

[Image source=AFP Yonhap News]

The Belt and Road Initiative was first announced in September 2013 during President Xi’s visit to Kazakhstan. The project centers on the overland Silk Road extending from western China through Central Asia to Europe, and the maritime Silk Road connecting southern China with Southeast Asia, Africa, and Europe. To date, over 150 countries have joined the Belt and Road Initiative, with cumulative project value reaching $2 trillion (approximately 2,710 trillion KRW). China externally presents the initiative as a joint development effort with the world to build infrastructure, but some critics argue that it aims to expand China’s global economic and military influence. President Xi’s references to 'win-win' and 'community of shared destiny' are interpreted as responses to such criticisms.

Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin attracted attention by delivering a speech at the opening ceremony. President Putin explained, "Russia and China, like most countries in the world, share a desire for mutually beneficial cooperation to achieve universal, sustainable, and long-term economic development and social welfare while respecting the diversity of civilizations and the rights of each country." According to China’s Xinhua News Agency, after the opening ceremony, President Xi began talks with President Putin.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.