Shanghai forum gathers expert opinion on BRI

Gyorgy Matolcsy, governor of the Central Bank of Hungry, encouraged deeper cooperation between Europe and Asia, in particular, through the platforms set by BRI.

"Cooperation holds many gains for Europe and Asia," Matolcsy said via video. "We are heading towards an interlinked Eurasia... The Belt and Road Initiative sets its path towards the age of Eurasia."

He also stressed the significance of global cooperation amid geopolitical complexity.

"We must acknowledge the world is gravitating towards a multipolar setting.

"We need, all of us, the whole global business community to find the secret recipe for sustainable growth via cooperation."

Zhou Qiangwu, vice-president of the New Development Bank (NDB), called for a new global multilateral governance framework set by the developing countries and emerging markets.

"The post-WWII global multilateral governance framework took a roundabout path in the past few decades because western values predominated the whole process. That led to the interests of developing countries unguaranteed and underrepresented.

"Such new initiatives as BRI, BRICS Mechanism, NDB, AIIB and Global Development Initiative, serve as catalysts to improve and reform the current governance."