The three-day Seventh International Forum on the Belt and Road Initiative and Global Governance commenced in Shanghai on Friday, with more than 200 domestic and foreign experts discussing opportunities while strengthening BRI cooperation as well as the challenges brought by the multiple global uncertainties.

Huang Renwei, executive vice-president of the Fudan Institute of Belt and Road & Global Governance, said in an interview with China Daily on Friday that the scale and depth of the BRI has grown beyond infrastructure investment or industrial development over the past decade. With BRI, more and more countries have started to reconsider their relations with the world order.

The eight actions raised during the third Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation - covering sectors of entry of foreign investment, innovation and integrity - have actually touched upon many topics that were not raised 10 years ago. All of these require thorough investigations and more detailed plans, to which forums can serve as think tanks to come up with possible solutions, said Huang.

While attracting more partners and capital, an overall rating system covering economy, society, ecosystem and business benefits should be set up for all the BRI projects and safeguard the bottom line of security, said Li Zhongyuan, chief risk officer of the Export-Import Bank of China.

The balance between existing projects and new ones should be optimized, suggested Li. For existing projects in BRI countries, they should start high-end, green and smart upgrading. New projects to be introduced in BRI countries should focus on emerging technologies, novel business models and new industries to nurture new growth engines, he added.

Vincent Lo, chairman of property developer Shui On Land Limited said that the use and maintenance of data while ensuring data security will be a new topic that awaits to be addressed regarding the high-quality development of BRI countries. More efforts should be made to come up with a system and related application rules for cross-border data, he said.

The Forum was jointly hosted by Fudan University and the International Silk Road Think Tank Association. The Fudan Institute of Belt and Road & Global Governance and China Center for Contemporary World Studies served as organizers for the Forum.

Source: China Daily