Chinese President Xi Jinping and foreign leaders walk to attend the opening ceremony of the Second BRF in Beijing, April 26, 2019. （Xinhua Photo）
This is why Xi's emphasis on both trade and internal development in BRI countries represents a complementary phenomenon designed to allow developing countries an opportunity to be exposed to key export markets while decreasing the costs of imports to populations achieving better employment levels due in large part to BRI projects.
Xi's speech comes at a crucial time for the world. Multiple nations are embracing a cooperative rules-based approach to trade and development and because of this, a nation as large and influential as China can provide guidance to its partners that wish to take advantage of modern trends in economic growth and global trade.
BRI's all-inclusive nature makes it clear that for China, the BRI is not about exporting Chinese governmental characteristics to other nations and it is also not about creating a geopolitical bloc of nations.
The BRI is instead about pooling together the natural, industrial and human resources of the globe together so that a moderately prosperous future in all respects can be shared as widely as possible.
Voices of multiple nations will be heard at the BRF and Xi Jinping's keynote speech helped to clearly communicate an enlightened, far-sighted yet pragmatic and respectful approach to modern multilateralism.
