China unveils action plan on Belt and Road Initiative

Chinese President Xi Jinping addresses the opening ceremony of the Boao Forum for Asia on March 28, 2015. [Photo/Xinhua]

BEIJING -- China unveiled on Saturday the principles, framework, and cooperation priorities and mechanisms in its Belt and Road Initiative in a bid to enhance regional connectivity and embrace a brighter future together.

The vision and actions on jointly building the Silk Road Economic Belt and 21st-Century Maritime Silk Road, an initiative raised by Chinese President Xi Jinping during visits to Central Asia and Southeast Asia in 2013, was issued by China's top economic planner, the National Development and Reform Commission and ministries of foreign affairs and commerce.

The initiative aims to promote orderly and free flow of economic factors, highly efficient allocation of resources and deep integration of markets by enhancing connectivity of Asian, European and African continents and their adjacent seas.

It is open to all countries and international and regional organizations for engagement and honors mutual respect and market operation to seek common prosperity, the plan said.

The plan called for policy coordination, facilities connectivity, unimpeded trade, financial integration and people-to-people bonds to make complementary use of participating countries' unique resource advantages through multilateral mechanisms and multilevel platforms.

China will fully leverage the comparative advantages of its various regions and further open up for more interaction and cooperation both at home and internationally.

The development of the Belt and Road Initiative is a pluralistic and open process of cooperation which can be highly flexible without sticking to conformity, according to the plan.

China is ready to work with participating countries in improving the content and mode of the initiative and developing timetables and roadmaps of cooperative mechanisms, plans and projects, the plan added.

The action plan came three days ahead of the deadline of the application for joining the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), a China-initiated lender to offer financing for regional infrastructure projects.

Related: Chronology of China's Belt and Road Initiative

September 2013 -- The Silk Road Economic Belt concept was introduced by Chinese President Xi Jinping during his visit to Kazakhstan. In a speech delivered at Nazarbayev University, Xi suggested that China and Central Asia cooperate to build a Silk Road Economic Belt. It was the first time the Chinese leadership mentioned the strategic vision.

October 2013 -- President Xi proposed building a close-knit China-ASEAN community and offered guidance on constructing a 21st Century Maritime Silk Road to promote maritime cooperation. In his speech at the Indonesian parliament, Xi also proposed establishing the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) to finance infrastructure construction and promote regional interconnectivity and economic integration.

November 2013 -- The Third Plenary Session of the 18th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China called for accelerating infrastructure links among neighboring countries and facilitating the Belt and Road initiative.

December 2013 -- Xi urged strategic planning of the Belt and Road initiative to promote connectedness of infrastructure and build a community of common interests at the annual Central Economic Work Conference.

February 2014 -- Xi and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, reached a consensus on construction of the Belt and Road, as well as its connection with Russia's Euro-Asia Railways.