Growing support

Wang Youming, director of the Institute of Developing Countries at the China Institute of International Studies in Beijing, said the growing trust and support for China expressed by many developing countries can be attributed to two major things.

"One is the remarkable achievements that China has made in reform and opening-up," he said, noting that China's experiences could be of reference value to other developing countries.

After over 40 years of continuous endeavor, more than 700 million people in China have been lifted out of extreme poverty, accounting for more than 70 percent of global poverty reduction.

In 2020, China lifted all its 98.99 million rural residents living below the current poverty line out of poverty. It also met the poverty eradication target set out in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development 10 years ahead of schedule.

China is committed to a people-centered approach in pursuing its development, and this is widely echoed by other developing countries, Wang said, adding that the other reason for great trust in China is the unique appeal of major-country diplomacy with Chinese characteristics.

Zoon Ahmed Khan, a Pakistani scholar with the Center for China and Globalization in Beijing, said that instead of unilaterally determining the needs of other countries, China is working as an equal partner to mutually discover possible ways forward through cooperation with other countries.

For example, she said that during the joint building of the BRI, China offers its expertise to developing countries, and also helps them meet their domestically determined development needs-free from moralizing and ideology.

"This is in itself an empowering and transformative approach, which has enhanced the agency of developing countries across the world," she said.

The BRI is dedicated to advancing policy, infrastructure, trade, financial and people-to-people connectivity, while also fostering new growth drivers in the health, green economy and digital sectors, among other things.

As of last month, 148 countries and 32 international organizations were participating in the BRI, with more than 200 cooperation documents being signed, according to the Foreign Ministry.

In December, the China-Laos Railway-a docking project between the BRI and Laos' strategy to convert the landlocked country into a land-linked hub-was officially declared operational, leading Laos to the massive markets of its neighboring countries.

At the opening ceremony, Lao President Thongloun Sisoulith hailed the railway as an important milestone in his country's modern infrastructure construction and said it will greatly promote national socioeconomic development.