Xie Feng: Tripartite cooperation mechanism fosters complementarity

While the B&R initiative did originate from the Mainland, Xie Feng, Commissioner of Office of the Commissioner of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic of China in the HKSAR, commented that the opportunities and outcomes within the initiative belong to the world. The B&R has now become the world’s largest and the most popular international cooperation platform. It will pave new paths for various countries in developing and achieving shared prosperity, demonstrating strong vitality and bright prospects.

Earlier in April at the annual Boao Forum for Asia, President Xi Jinping solemnly promised that “China's door will not be closed and will only be opened up even wider”. He also announced significant relaxations on market access, commitments to create an even more attractive investment environment, to strengthen the protection of intellectual property rights, and to actively expand import. Xie reckoned that, the new measures to expand China’s opening up, as quoted above, illustrate China’s commitment as a power nation of the new era in safeguarding the global multilateral order, and in promoting development of the world economy. All these will provide even wider markets for domestic and foreign companies from around the world, including the wide overseas Chinese merchant community.

Xie noted that there is no winner in the worldwide shadow of a trade war. Economic hegemony that moves against the course of history can only be detrimental to the common interests of the international society. Prosperity and sustainability across the board is only possible through opening-up. Xie stressed that China is willing to collaborate with the international society to protect the multilateral trade system and to drive the construction of an open world economy. He mentioned that the Office of the Commissioner of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the PRC in the HKSAR had established a tripartite cooperation mechanism for the Mainland, Hong Kong and countries along the B&R routes in the second half of last year. By organically combining the Mainland’s edge in capital, technology and production capacity, the regional standing of Hong Kong and its strengths in international professional services, the rich resources and the need to develop in countries along the B&R routes, the strengths of various parties can be pooled together to complement each other, which could work together for the outcome of “1+1+1 is bigger than 3”.