The China Academy of Translation, a research institute affiliated with the China International Publishing Group, the country's leading international publisher, has analyzed prevailing terms concerning the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative and translated them into a number of foreign languages. In each issue, Beijing Review presents some of these keywords to help readers know more about the initiative.

Silk Road for health cooperation

Promoting health at a global level is an important component of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. In his speech to the Legislative Chamber of the Uzbek Supreme Assembly on June 22, 2016, President Xi Jinping proposed expanding cooperation in health under the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative, that is, jointly building a Silk Road for health cooperation, by strengthening information sharing on a range of measures including communicable diseases, disease prevention and control, medical relief and assistance, and exchanges on traditional medical research. On January 18, 2017, the Chinese Government and the World Health Organization signed a memorandum of understanding to this end.

A Silk Road for health cooperation aims to improve public health in countries along the Belt and Road. Key measures include increased consultation and exchanges on health policy issues, building institutions, defining international health standards and norms, enhanced cooperation in disease prevention and control, and training and capacity building.

Silk Road to peace

Serious terrorist, secessionist and extremist threats lurk along the Belt and Road, especially along the Belt. There is also tension between some of the countries along the routes, giving rise to occasional localized conflicts. Furthermore, a number of countries are subject to internal instability. For the Belt and Road Initiative to proceed, it is crucial to defuse turmoil and maintain peace and stability at the regional level.

In his speech to the Legislative Chamber of the Uzbek Supreme Assembly on June 22, 2016, President Xi Jinping called for enhanced security cooperation. It is critical, he said, to promote a new Asian security concept that emphasizes joint and comprehensive measures and cooperation in ensuring sustainable security and to create a security governance framework with Asian characteristics—in sum, to jointly build a Silk Road to peace.

A Silk Road to peace rests on two mutually complementary pillars: an environment of relative stability, which is indispensable for the Belt and Road Initiative to thrive; and concerted efforts to build a trade network, which contributes to regional peace and stability. China believes that development promotes peace and security, a conviction borne out by experience.

Silk Road to green development

Environmental protection is a common concern of humanity. Addressing the Legislative Chamber of the Uzbek Supreme Assembly on June 22, 2016, President Xi Jinping emphasized the need to strengthen cooperation in environmental and ecological protection, so as to build a Silk Road to green development.

This idea had previously been affirmed by the Chinese Government in a white paper titled Vision and Actions on Jointly Building Silk Road Economic Belt and 21st-Century Maritime Silk Road. The document highlights the importance of a green, low-carbon approach to building and operating infrastructure, taking into full account the imperative to mitigate the impact of climate change. It encourages joint efforts to build a Silk Road to green development by integrating ecological considerations into trade and investment strategies and expanding cooperation in protecting the environment and biodiversity and addressing climate change.

A Silk Road to green development calls for a careful balance between economic growth and environmental protection, with due consideration given to the ecological carrying capacity of the countries concerned. Ecological protection, prevention and control of desertification, and clean energy, among others, already feature prominently in strategic planning exercises for implementing the Belt and Road Initiative.

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