'Vision and Actions on Jointly Building the Silk Road Economic Belt and 21st-Century Maritime Silk Road", the first official document detailing the initiative, lays out an ambitious blueprint for their realization. Its materialization would revitalize an extensive historical trade corridor and instill badly needed energy into the economies along them.

The vision of a more tightly interconnected Asia, Europe and Africa, even if it is just economically, makes the road map tantalizing. Few other development initiatives today have the potential to benefit more than 60 percent of the planet's inhabitants.

The initiative has resonated widely and received an enthusiastic response because it starts with and is centered on construction for greater interconnectivity, which is set to improve the infrastructure for all stakeholders. And the Chinese initiatives to establish the Silk Road Fund, Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, BRICS Development Bank and the SCO Development Bank make the blueprint financially credible.