(May 15, 2017)

Xi Jinping, President of the People’s Republic ofChina

Dear Colleagues,

We’ve had an in-depth exchange of views on the agenda item of Policy Synergy for Closer Partnership and reached broad consensus on many of the issues discussed.

We all underline the importance of international cooperation under the Belt and road initiative and hope to advance our cooperation to a higher level, in    a broader range of areas and in greater depth. It is  our common view that under the current global economic situation, the implementation of the Belt and Road Initiative will help foster new growth drivers, create a new platform for global development, and rebalance the economic globalization process. Following the principle of extensive consultation, joint contribution and shared benefits, we will deepen international cooperation under the Belt and Road Initiative, build partnerships, and work together to shape  a new landscape for common development.

We agree to strengthen macro-economic policy coordination and foster a favorable environment for the global economy. We discussed the opportunities, risks and uncertainties facing the global economy, and expressed the hope of working together for robust global growth through closer macro-economic policy coordination. We all call for openness to grow the global economy, and will take positive steps to promote trade and investment liberalization and facilitation and the establishment of Free Trade Areas (FTA). We all put a premium on innovation-driven development and stand ready to advance economic structural reforms and foster new growth drivers. In view of the growing momentum of the digital economy and new industrial revolution,we all hope to work more closely in these frontier areas and jointly build platforms for cooperation on scientific and technological innovation to promote independent innovation and technology transfer and cultivate new industries, new business forms and new business models.

We all hope that our respective development strategies truly complement each other so that our development plans will be coordinated, our growth interconnected and benefits shared. We have briefed each other on our respective mid-term and long-term development plans. We all agree that our development strategies have much in common. A stronger policy synergy serves our common interests and meets the development needs of  all countries involved. We are pleased that many constructive proposals have been made in this connection during the session. As our next step, we need to continuously strengthen policy communication, build up mutual trust, and expand common ground for cooperation. We need to share useful experience in synergizing development strategies and draw on each other’s strengths. We  also need to make full use  of the existing multilateral and bilateral mechanisms and newly built cooperation platforms to ensure that policy connectivity efforts are more targeted and effective. To achieve practical and tangible results, it is important for us to synergize our development strategies in tandem with our cooperation in such areas as building economic corridors and industrial parks and promoting trade and investment. During this Belt and Road Forum, a number of agreements on synergizing development strategies or on cooperation projects have been signed. We should make sure these agreements will be translated into action and contribute to the deepening of our practical cooperation in all fields.

Dear Colleagues,

Well begun is half done. Thanks to our concerted efforts, we have reached broad consensus on many of the issues that were discussed during the first session of our roundtable. This makes us more confident in international cooperation under the Belt and Road Initiative.

With that, our first session is concluded.