Global experts hail BRI as critical bridge amid geopolitical turbulence

Political leaders and scholars have lauded the Belt and Road Initiative as an important platform for fostering inter-national connections in a world increasingly characterized by rising conflicts, fragmentation and protectionism.

They made the remarks at the Wenzhou Business Development Forum — Zhejiang Belt and Road Think Tank Dialogue in Wenzhou city, Zhejiang province, on Saturday.

Mulatu Teshome, former president of Ethiopia, offered his country's experience as a testament to the benefits that the BRI has brought to participating nations.

Ethiopia and China signed a memorandum of understanding to promote cooperation under the BRI framework in 2018. The initiative has since delivered numerous cooperation opportunities to Ethiopia in infrastructure and trade investment, Teshome said, citing the Addis Ababa-Djibouti Railway as a prime example.

The railway, Africa's first electrified trans-boundary rail line, entered operation in 2018 and has greatly reduced travel time between Ethiopia and Djibouti. The improvement in connectivity has also significantly boosted the flow of people and business opportunities, Teshome added, noting that many Chinese enterprises have built industrial parks along the railway.

This year marks the 13th anniversary of the launch of the BRI. So far, China has signed cooperation documents with over 150 countries and more than 30 international organizations. The China-Europe Railway Express freight service, among the large numbers of BRI-related projects, has operated more than 130,000 trips till June.

Jennifer Shipley, former prime minister of New Zealand, reflected on the evolution of the BRI. She observed that in the BRI's early stages, projects were primarily government-driven, focusing on infrastructure construction and financing, with the goal of promoting peace and prosperity through market connections. "Because we know that when people are connected to markets, peace and prosperity are most likely to nurture and flourish. And when it does nurture and flourish, there is mutual benefit to those economies," she said.

As the initiative develops, the private sector is increasingly playing a crucial role in its implementation, she said.

Official data reveal that in 2025, bilateral trade with BRI partner countries reached 23.6 trillion yuan ($3.52 trillion), increasing by 6.3 percent year-on-year and accounting for 51.9 percent of the country's total foreign trade value.

Shipley said the BRI has created room for enterprises to conduct business, providing an important platform for companies navigating global chaos and waves of protectionism.

Glenn Diesen, a professor at the University of South-Eastern Norway in Norway, emphasized the revolutionary role the BRI has played in connecting the Eurasian continent.

Diesen described the initiative as a geographical revolution aimed at restoring physical connectivity across Eurasia.

Following the implementation of the BRI proposed by China, countries such as Russia and Kazakhstan have also started similar initiatives to advance connectivity, but these initiatives are not exclusive and can mutually reinforce each other, he said.

"With the physical connectivity of the Belt and Road Initiative, it enables more technological cooperation between the different centers of power," Diesen stated. "Overall, this international economic architecture lays the foundation for a new multipolar system. And in this multipolar system, we see that genuine multilateralism actually has a possibility to thrive … allowing economic connectivity to actually lead to peace."

The 2026 Wenzhou Business Development Forum — Zhejiang Belt and Road Think Tank Dialogue is part of the Mingde Strategic Dialogue 2026 activities, which brought together former government leaders, scholars, and think tank experts from seven countries.

The forum was jointly hosted by Wenzhou Business College and Zhejiang Development and Planning Institute, with support from the Chongyang Institute for Finance Studies at Renmin University of China.