Participants pose for a group photo during the 2021 Boao Forum for Asia (BFA) annual conference in Boao, south China's Hainan Province, April 18, 2021. (Xinhua/Guo Cheng)
BEIJING, April 21 (Xinhua) -- Financial integration has provided great support for the implementation of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) since its introduction in 2013. To further stimulate the vitality of BRI, sustainable financing is a key driver, believed industrial insiders.
In the first quarter of this year, China's trade with Belt and Road countries rose by 21.4 percent year on year to 2.5 trillion yuan (about 384 billion U.S. dollars), Vice Minister of Commerce Qian Keming said at a sub-forum of the Boao Forum for Asia annual conference.
Financial integration has underpinned infrastructure construction and trade facilitation despite the pandemic, lending an indispensable support for the BRI.
Going forward, attention should be paid to the following fields, such as projects along the route, proper investment and green transition, suggested Hu Xiaolian, president of the Export-import Bank of China (China Eximbank).
In terms of projects, Hu stressed that more projects should be launched to empower the Belt and Road countries with means to become prosperity, such as projects in transportation, power and industry, ensuring sustainable financing with sustainable development.
Qian Keming echoed with Hu on this point, saying that China should work together with other countries in the projects that could empower the locals and generate cash flow, thus increasing fiscal revenue and foreign exchange reserve of the host countries to improve their debt solvency ability.
"Sustainable financing is neither pure international aids nor charity work," said Hu, adding that sustainable financing requires care for interests and concerns of both borrowers and creditors.
Appropriate investment should be another factor, according to Hu. When providing funding, various factors, such as the host country's economic scale, development stage, and future potentials, should be taken into consideration. Both the scale and pace of financing should be appropriate.
Green development, a consensus of the global community, should also become the core philosophy of the BRI development.
The concept of green development should be integrated into all links of sustainable financing. China will promote green and low-carbon energy in Belt and Road countries, developing efficient, clean and renewable energies. These energies include gas, solar, wind power, hydropower and nuclear power. China will also carry out energy projects with better environmental benefits, said Qian.
(Edited by Li Shimeng with Xinhua Silk Road, lishimeng@xinhua.org)
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