Asia Cooperation Dialogue extends Silk Road

Editor's Note: The following is adapted from a speech by Assistant Foreign Minister Liu Jianchao at the opening ceremony of the Asia Cooperation Dialogue Forum on Silk Road Cooperation in Lanzhou, Gansu province on May 28.

The Asia Cooperation Dialogue is an important mechanism for inter-governmental dialogue and cooperation in Asia. With such dialogue mechanisms as the summit and the ministerial meeting established, its membership has increased from 18 to 33. Cooperation within the ACD has now been expanded into 20 areas, including energy, economy, trade, culture, and connectivity, and the Provisional Secretariat is up and running in Kuwait. The ACD has already become an important platform for forging Asian consensus, promoting the Asian spirit and advancing Asian cooperation.

The world is undergoing complex and profound changes, and the global economic gravity is shifting eastward. Asia has become a major engine of the world economy, contributing more than 50 percent to its growth. However, unlike the rise of other regions and countries in history, Asia's rejuvenation and development is not about the rise of a single country but the collective development of a number of countries, the emerging economies in particular.