China and Russia to promote One Belt, One Road

Chinese and Russian scholars are holding talks for better cooperation between the two countries under the "One Belt, One Road" initiative.

The first China Goes Global Workshop, themed as the China-Russia Economic Interface, was held at the University of International Business and Economics on Saturday.

Professors from China, Russia, Canada and other European countries gathered to discuss the historical relationship between China and Russia and explore more possibilities for further cooperation under the "One Belt, One Road" initiative.

Proposed by Xi Jinping in September 2013, the development strategy and framework of the "One Belt, One Road" initiative aims to bring together countries in Asia, Europe and Africa into an overland and maritime network to boost infrastructure building, financial cooperation and cultural exchanges in the regions.

"Making efforts just on the government level is not enough, people, especially scholars from China and Russia should communicate more in order to promote the final practice of the initiative's proposes," said Hong Junjie, president of the School of International Trade and Economics at UIBE, adding that Russia took an important connecting role in the north line of the Belt and Road initiative.

Phill Hynes, head of Political Risk and Analysis Department of the Intelligent Security Solutions Ltd in Hong Kong, shared his thoughts on the potential of sino-Russia cooperation, pointing out energy and minerals were possibly the area in which to start.

"China has been making efforts to focus on the facilities construction in the Asian-Pacific region, but it should pay attention to Russia, a country that has much potential to cooperate with China in areas such as mineral resources," he said, adding that as China's soft power has been rising in recent years, more trade possibilities are expected.