Actions underway

Regarding this year's 20th anniversary of China's accession to the WTO, Wang Shouwen, vice-minister of commerce, told reporters on Oct 28 that the country has "fully fulfilled" its obligations under the WTO and the commitments it has made, which has been recognized by leading officials of the WTO and the vast majority of its members.

Underscoring the role of infrastructure buildup in shoring up future global development, Xi, while addressing a symposium on Friday in Beijing that focused on the Belt and Road Initiative, called for continued promotion of the high-quality development of the BRI through joint efforts.

In addition, countries should "scale up support for developing transport infrastructure in the least developed countries and landlocked developing countries so as to achieve common prosperity", Xi told the opening ceremony of the second United Nations Global Sustainable Transport Conference on Oct 14.

Xie Feng, vice-minister of foreign affairs, told a forum on Nov 12 in Beijing that since 2013, the cumulative trade volume between China and its BRI partners has exceeded $9.2 trillion, and "the BRI has become the world's largest platform for international cooperation".

Chen Xulong, a professor of multilateral diplomacy and UN reform studies at the University of International Business and Economics' School of International Relations, said, "The BRI's philosophy and successful practice over the past eight years are conducive to advancing the Global Development Initiative, and the two visions will join hands, complement each other and form a great joint force pushing forward global cooperation on growth."

Jia Jinjing, deputy dean of the Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies at Renmin University of China in Beijing, said that in addition to improving infrastructure, the world needs to tackle an imminent supply chain crisis, as "products are out of stock in many places, and the prices of raw materials and bulk commodities are skyrocketing".

"Behind the crisis is that the institutions and mechanisms supporting the supply chain have failed to align with the changing world economy as the pandemic looms large," he added.

China proposes to hold an international forum on resilient and stable industrial and supply chains and it "welcomes the active participation of G20 members and relevant international organizations", President Xi announced while addressing the G20 summit in Rome via video link last month.

State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi told reporters after the summit that this move "brings together a strong joint force to maintain the security and stability of the global industrial and supply chain".

Jia, the Renmin University of China scholar, said that although the specific plan for the forum has not yet been revealed, "it will help bring global attention to certain countries' moves that disrupt the global supply chain, such as forcing computer chip makers to hand over business secrets in the name of supply chain security".