Abstract:The Silk Road Economic Belt has three major routes that extend in three directions.Its northern route connects East Asia with the Europe through Russia.Its middle route also extends to the Europe,through Central and West Asia.Whereas its southern route meanders to the Maritime Silk Road via the Southeast Asia.On the other hand,the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road has two major directions.One direction is pointed westward to Africa through the South China Sea and the Indian Ocean,while the other direction is oriented towards the South Pacific region.Now the contour and the overall blueprint of “the Belt and Road Initiative” (BRI) have been clearly defined,and tens of thousands of projects are being constructed within in framework of BRI's grand design.The most desired long-term design is to make the whole continent well connected and integrated.In this way,the areas once linked by ancient silk road may be transformed from their underdeveloped state that evolved all the way from early modern history,and the glamorous honor of the ancient silk road may be recreated.Therefore,it is proposed that a new strategic mentality should be created for the BRI construction.More specifically,it is proposed that new ideas shall be adopted to propel the development of China and relevant regions,such as new type of cooperative development and new type of big power relations.It should be pointed out that BRI is a “hundred-year-project” containing historical implications.The BRI idea is developing from a Chinese plan into a worldwide initiative for cooperation.
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