(July 2, 2018, Beijing) State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi

Chairman of the Forum, distinguished guests, Ladies and Gentlemen, Good morning! First of all, on behalf of the Chinese government, I would like to warmly welcome you to Beijing to attend the International Forum on the "Belt and Road" Rule of Law Cooperation. In 2013, President Xi Jinping proposed to jointly build the "Belt and Road" initiative. This is a major international cooperation idea put forward by President Xi to promote the common development and prosperity of the people of all countries and jointly build a community of human destiny.

Over the past five years, the Belt and Road Initiative has upheld the Silk Road spirit of peace and cooperation, openness and inclusiveness, mutual learning and mutual benefit, and has been committed to promoting the common development needs of all countries. It has received global response and support, and has achieved very rich early harvest. So far, nearly 90 countries and international organizations have signed cooperation agreements with China to jointly build "Belt and Road.". We have jointly built 75 overseas economic and trade cooperation zones with other countries, and steadily promoted capacity cooperation, interconnection and economic corridor construction.The total value of imports and exports between China and the countries along the route has reached more than 30 trillion yuan, the investment in the countries along the route has exceeded 70 billion US dollars, and more than 200000 jobs have been created. People in more and more countries and regions are benefiting from it. "One belt and one road" has actually become the largest international cooperation platform in the world today, and has also become the most popular public product in the international community. Last year, the first "Belt and Road" International Cooperation Summit Forum was successfully held in Beijing, with more than 270 achievements, pushing the "Belt and Road" initiative into a new stage of full implementation.Next year, China will also host the second "Belt and Road" International Cooperation Summit Forum at the request of other countries, and welcomes the continued active participation of all countries. Why can "Belt and Road" be so widely welcomed in a short period of time and achieve so many results beyond expectations? The main reasons lie in the following aspects: First of all, the Belt and Road Initiative adheres to the principle of equality and mutual benefit. "One belt and one road" is a platform for international cooperation with exemplary significance.Although initiated by China, all parties are equal participants, contributors and beneficiaries. On this new platform for cooperation, all countries treat each other as equals, participate fairly, focus on development and plan for cooperation. Second, jointly building the "Belt and Road" and adhering to the goal of win-win cooperation. "One belt and one road" has adhered to the common development and common prosperity of all participants from the very beginning. This goal is committed to making economic globalization more inclusive, inclusive and win-win, and is fully in line with the good wishes of all countries to achieve win-win results through cooperation."One belt and one road" is not China's "solo", but everyone's "symphony". It is not a single benefit, but a win-win for all. Third, jointly building the "Belt and Road" adheres to the principle of openness and inclusiveness. Everything in the construction of "one belt and one road" is running in the sunshine. It is not a closed club, but an open circle of friends. As long as we recognize the spirit of the Silk Road, all parties can participate in the co-construction and share opportunities. We hope that all "Belt and Road" projects will be of a high level.With high standards and high quality, we also attach great importance to green environmental protection and debt sustainability. At the same time, we believe that we should also consider the objective situation of different partners and take into account the actual needs of each participant. Fourth, the joint construction of "Belt and Road" adheres to the approach of docking development. Over the past five years, we have successfully aligned our development strategies with those of other countries at the national and regional levels, including the Eurasian Economic Union of Russia and other countries, the Bright Road of Kazakhstan,Mongolia's "Grassland Road", Indonesia's "Global Ocean Fulcrum", the European Union's "European Investment Plan" and the United Nations Sustainable Development Agenda 2030, etc. Through these different levels and different types of docking, we can form stronger complementary advantages, open up greater cooperation space, tap more cooperation potential, so as to better solve the problems of unbalanced development and fragmentation of international cooperation, with the ultimate goal of promoting overall development through docking and achieving common prosperity through development.

Fifth, jointly building the "Belt and Road" is based on the rule of law. We have always cooperated within the scope of various existing international rules and laws, respecting both the prevailing international law and the domestic laws of all countries. We are speeding up the signing of agreements on trade and investment, finance and taxation, intellectual property rights, transportation and environmental protection with other parties, and striving to build a network of rules and laws for "one belt and one road". We are convinced that rules and the rule of law are not only the passport of "one belt and one road" to the world, but also the safety valve to deal with all kinds of uncertain risks and challenges.Ladies and gentlemen, Promoting the construction of "one belt and one road" is inseparable from the joint efforts of all countries and the participation of all walks of life, including the legal profession. We are willing to continue to strengthen cooperation with all parties on the rule of law and provide more solid legal and institutional guarantees for the construction of "Belt and Road.". The first is to strengthen the interconnection and coordination of the "Belt and Road" rules. China has basically achieved full integration with international rules and domestication of international standards.We have joined almost all universal intergovernmental international organizations and more than 500 international conventions. In 2017, the joint adoption rate of China's national standards and international standards has reached more than 90%. We maintain that while promoting "hard connectivity" of infrastructure, countries should also strengthen "soft connectivity" of policies, rules, standards and mechanisms horizontally, so as to achieve compatibility between rules and standards systems and create an unimpeded "expressway of rules" so as to fully release the positive effects of "one belt and one road" interconnection.The two is to improve the legal guarantee system of "one belt and one road". We should fill in the gaps in a timely manner, update the relevant treaties, and build a treaty guarantee network that meets the needs of the development of "Belt and Road.". Including the establishment of litigation, arbitration and mediation as soon as possible, the organic convergence of the "one belt and one way" dispute settlement service mechanism, properly resolve disputes, and create a legal business environment. We will build a platform for information sharing and big data services in the legal field of "Belt and Road" to provide better legal advisory services for cooperation.The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China is building a national treaty database, which will greatly facilitate the enterprises and the public of the "Belt and Road" participating countries to access treaty information. The three is to deepen the "one belt and one way" rule of law exchange and international cooperation. We support the rule of law exchanges among the governments, international organizations, private sectors and academia of the "Belt and Road" participating countries, promote exchanges and mutual learning of different legal cultures, share useful experiences and best practices, and jointly guard against legal risks. We are willing to strengthen the judicial and law enforcement cooperation of the "one belt and one way" participating countries.Jointly crack down on transnational crimes and promote international cooperation against corruption. We hope to enhance the level of the rule of law capacity building of the "one belt and one way" participating countries and train high-quality international legal personnel. I would like to announce here that the Chinese government has decided to fund the implementation of the "Belt and Road" Rule of Law Cooperation Research Project to promote this cooperation with practical actions. Ladies and gentlemen, This year marks the 40th anniversary of China's reform and opening up. China will continue to adhere to the basic state policy of opening to the outside world, continue to open the door to construction, continue to actively promote the "one belt and one way" international cooperation, adhere to the principle of Co construction and sharing, and strive to achieve policy communication, facilities interconnection, trade unimpeded, financial integration and people's hearts.The Belt and Road Initiative originated in China, but the opportunities and achievements belong to the world. As President Xi Jinping pointed out at the first Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation, the Belt and Road Initiative is a great undertaking that requires great practice. Let us push forward the implementation step by step, grasp the results bit by bit, and benefit the world and the people. To this end, let us join hands to continuously strengthen cooperation in various fields, including international cooperation on the rule of law, promote greater progress in the construction of "one belt and one road", and make unremitting efforts to build a community of human destiny and build an open, inclusive, clean and beautiful world with lasting peace, universal security and common prosperity! Finally, I wish this forum a complete success! Thank you all!