BEIJING, Aug. 11,
2024 /PRNewswire/ --The year 2024 ushers in the
second golden decade of the joint building of the Belt and Road
Initiative (BRI) after the initiative has already yielded many
fruitful results worldwide. Looking forward to the new stage of
high-quality Belt and Road cooperation over the coming 10 years,
the Global Times Institute (GTI) recently conducted a public
awareness survey of the BRI in 13 countries around the world to
understand how people overseas view the BRI in relation to global
affairs, their own country, and themselves, and to understand the
future expectations of the overseas public for the Belt and Road
cooperation.
The survey covered 12 Belt and Road partner countries in
Asia, Europe, Africa, and Oceania, as well as one BRICS
member state - Brazil, totaling 13
countries, and was conducted in 12 languages including English,
Arabic, Russian, Kazakh, and Turkish.
The survey was conducted from May 27 to
June 21, using online surveys, telephone interviews,
face-to-face interviews, and other methods to collect data.
Approximately 11,000 valid questionnaires in total were collected
and the sample subjects were residents over 18 years old in each
country.
In the annals of world history, the famous Silk Road once
connected countries in Central
Asia, the Middle East,
Europe, Africa, and China. This route not only facilitated trade
between the countries along its path but also promoted cultural
exchanges and mutual learning of civilizations among different
countries and regions.
Today, the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) proposed by
China is promoting joint
development and prosperity among the countries along the Eurasian
and African routes. This initiative is allowing people from various
countries to share a harmonious, peaceful, and prosperous life,
continuing the legacy of connectivity and cooperation that the Silk
Road symbolized centuries ago.
The latest survey conducted by the Global Times Institute (GTI)
found out that a significant number of respondents had heard of the
BRI. Compared with plans or initiatives proposed by other countries
or international organizations, more respondents expressed optimism
about the role that the BRI plays in the world across different
countries and regions, ranking above the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor
proposed by the US and the Global Gateway strategy proposed by the
European Union.
Vietnamese respondents had the highest awareness of the BRI,
with 87 percent knowing about it. Respondents from Laos and Indonesia generally have higher rates of
agreement with the main concepts or practices of the BRI.
Laotian respondents have the highest positive agreements on the
initiative actively sharing poverty alleviation experiences and
emphasizing green development (both at 95 percent), while
Indonesian respondents were most in agreement with the BRI
increasing technological investment to improve resource efficiency
(91 percent).
Pakistan also has the highest
agreement rate for actively sharing poverty alleviation
experiences; respondents from Saudi
Arabia and Turkey are most
in agreement with emphasizing green development; and Kenyan
respondents also have a 90 percent agreement rate for increasing
technological investment to improve resource efficiency.
Muhammad Zamir Assadi, editor at the Internews Pakistan,
told the Global Times on Sunday that the China-Pakistan Economic
Corridor (CPEC), one of the flagship projects under the BRI, has
changed the overall economic landscape of Pakistan as it has successfully attracted the
attention of other international community in addition to
attracting foreign investment to the country.
"We have witnessed the interest of middle eastern countries to
who have shown their intent to invest under the framework of CPEC
that will again bring more positive impact to Pakistani economy in
various fields," he said.
He told the Global Times that the BRI also had enormous impact
on his personal career. Back in 2016, he was given his first
opportunity to visit China under
one of the BRI projects that opened new avenues for him to learn
about China and the visit
strengthened his professional skills and enabled him to get
important position in Pakistan's
news industry.
"I feel a pride for me to lead a dedicated team on China affairs and to act as a media guide for
disseminating information on China
affairs in Pakistan in various
languages," he told the Global Times.
Respondents have confidence in China's future efforts to achieve greater
success in promoting the BRI, and being part of the BRI and
deepening cooperation receive strong support overall, the survey
found.
The joint construction of the BRI will become one of the most
important ways for China to
fulfill its responsibilities as a major country in the
international community, experts said.
A majority of respondents are happy to see more countries join
the BRI, and look forward to its positive effects on promoting
global development and narrowing the gap between rich and poor
countries. Nearly half of the respondents would be pleased to see
the US participate in the BRI.
The survey also showed that nearly 70 percent of Brazilian
respondents support their country joining the BRI.
The long-term sustainability of Belt and Road projects is a
priority for most respondents, with cooperation in infrastructure
construction being the most anticipated in many
countries.
In a new phase of the cooperation under the BRI, respondents are
most looking forward to prioritizing cooperation on infrastructure
construction, with 52 percent specifically mentioning this point;
the proportion of those looking forward to cooperation in
ecological environment protection, public health, daily life, and
education fields is also around 40 percent.
Assadi told the Global Times that Pakistan has prioritized its development needs
as per the local requirements of the local people based on the
national conditions aligning with their national
interests.
"Pakistan is looking forward to
the cooperation from China in the
field of agriculture, industrialization, upgradation of the railway
infrastructure as this is significant for the socio-economic
development of Pakistan,
investment in improvement of medical and education sector,
artificial intelligence, cloud computing, internet of things, big
data, the auto sector, science and technology, space sciences,
logistics, aviation, oil and gas resources, and natural gas hydrate
and others," he said.
Public benefits
The key to sound relations between countries lies in the
affinity between their peoples. China announced at the third Belt and Road
Forum for International Cooperation in October 2023 that it will carry out practical
cooperation under the BRI, promoting both signature projects and
"small yet smart" quality of life programs, including 1,000
small-scale livelihood assistance projects.
When asked whether they look forward to and are willing to
participate in future BRI projects related to their own quality of
life, over 70 percent of respondents in the 13 countries surveyed
provided a positive response, with over half expressing a
willingness to participate.
In Kenya, Indonesia, and Vietnam, the proportion of respondents looking
forward to such projects was close to or exceeded 90 percent, with
at least 70 percent willing to participate.
Under the BRI cooperation framework, more than half of the
respondents were willing to work for Chinese
enterprises/institutions/projects established locally, while over
30 percent was open to the idea.
The primary reason cited was the opportunity to learn more
professional skills, which was mentioned by nearly 60 percent of
respondents on average across the 13 countries. Many respondents
also cited higher income, better career development opportunities,
and a more stable labor market and social benefits.
Cui Hongjian, a professor from the Country and Area Studies
Academy with Beijing Foreign Studies University, told the Global
Times that BRI projects have delivered tangible benefits to local
areas, most notably by helping to solve employment
issues.
Regarding cultural exchanges and cooperation under the BRI,
respondents were more willing to participate in cross-border
tourism/festival activities, followed by experiencing or learning
about traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) cultural projects.
Applying for Chinese scholarships, education funds, and
participating in university/student exchange programs were also
popular.
He Wenping, a research fellow from the Institute of West Asian
and African Studies under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences,
told the Global Times that "cultural exchanges should go hand in
hand with infrastructure construction; wherever infrastructure
projects go, cultural exchanges should follow."
Recently, "China Travel" has become a hot topic on overseas
social media, with foreign YouTubers frequently visiting
China. Not only have they gained
views, but the realistic portrayals in their videos have also
broken the longstanding information cocoon about China among foreign people.
Survey data shows that over 80 percent of respondents in the 13
countries were willing to visit China in the future, with 60 percent
expressing a desire to travel to China, and over 20 percent willing to work, go
on business trips, or study in China.
High hopes
Regarding the positive impacts the BRI can bring to the world,
more than half of the respondents in the 13 countries expect the
initiative to promote global development and narrow the
international wealth gap.
Nearly half of the respondents hope that the BRI will unite
countries, enhance mutual understanding and tolerance among people
of different countries, promote cultural exchanges and integration,
and foster a fairer world order.
Regarding media criticisms that the Belt and Road Initiative
(BRI) is "neocolonialism" and creates a "debt trap," 72 percent of
respondents have a clear stance on this issue. Among them, an
average of 13 percent of respondents across 13 countries believe
these accusations are baseless attacks, 24 percent consider them
misunderstandings, and 21 percent think they represent bias.
Additionally, 28 percent view these claims as risk
warnings.
When asked about the possibility of more countries joining the
BRI in the future, 61 percent of respondents said they would
welcome it, with particularly high proportions in Kenya (77 percent) and Brazil (73 percent).
Wang Youming, director of the Institute of Developing Countries
at the China Institute of International Studies in Beijing, believed that the public confidence
in the BRI stems from the tangible, visible, and substantial
achievements made over the past 11 years.
"These achievements have taken root in the participating
countries, bringing benefits to local economic development,
employment improvement, and people's livelihoods," he
said.
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SOURCE Global Times