Equality and shared benefits bode well for Belt and Road Initiative

Equality and win-win cooperation are the two wings that will ensure the soaring accomplishment of the Belt and Road Initiative.

I have an increasingly strong feeling that all parties have changed their attitude towards the Belt and Road Initiative. Amid a large amount of praise, some Westerners' doubts on the Initiative have proved largely constructive. It seems the world, especially the West, is gradually accepting the proposal.

This is because the world recognizes China's diplomatic values: independence and win-win cooperation.

Whenever a country imposes its values on the others, there will be conflicts. Independence and equality are the prerequisite for peace. The collective consultation based on equality of the Belt and Road Initiative means the proposal, if well implemented, can effectively promote world peace.

The shared benefits, or win-win results, of the Initiative come, in the first place, from China's experience and ability in infrastructure construction. It is predictable that China's assistance to the developing countries in infrastructure construction will bring them prosperity, and not be accompanied by China's values and political system as happened formerly with the entry of Western colonialists.

China's investment and construction in Africa directly benefits local inhabitants, and the whole process is undertaken according to rules agreed by both sides. China will by no means impose its values or political system upon its partners as extra conditions.

(The author Pan Wei is a professor of international relations with Peking University. This is an excerpt from his article which was first published in Chinese. The translator is Li Yang.)