Removing all restrictions on foreign investment in manufacturing. Building a new Eurasian logistics corridor. Providing 100,000 training opportunities for partner countries by 2030. These are among a series of steps President Xi Jinping said China will take to build stronger Belt and Road cooperation.

In his keynote speech at the opening ceremony of the Third Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation (BRF) in Beijing on October 18, President Xi promised to usher the 10-year-old initiative into a new stage of higher-quality development.

During his visit to Kazakhstan in September 2013, President Xi put forward the initiative of jointly building the Silk Road Economic Belt, which, together with the 21st-Century Maritime Silk Road he proposed the following month in Indonesia, constitutes the Belt and Road Initiative. The BRF's first two editions took place in Beijing in 2017 and 2019.

Over the past decade, China has signed more than 230 Belt and Road agreements with over 150 countries and more than 30 international organizations, yielding 3,000-plus joint projects and generating nearly $1 trillion in investment.

The Third BRF was one of the most important diplomatic events hosted by China this year. Representatives from more than 150 countries, including political leaders as well as people from the business sector, academia and nongovernmental organizations, attended the forum.

A total of 458 outcomes were achieved, far more than in the Second BRF. Belt and Road partners agreed to launch initiatives on issues such as green development and artificial intelligence governance, and to host international conferences on topics ranging from maritime transport to natural disaster response. In addition, $97.2 billion worth of agreements were signed at the CEO Conference held on the sidelines of the forum.

China can do well only when the world does well. When China does well, the world will do better. In fact, through the Belt and Road Initiative, China is opening its doors even wider. The country has become a main trading partner for more than 140 countries and territories, and a primary source of investment for a growing number of countries.

China believes that those who take the lead in economic development should reach out to their partners who have yet to catch up. With this belief, hopes are high that the Belt and Road Initiative will continue to bring prosperity to all through mutual support.