The “Belt and Road Initiative”—Cognition and Practice of a New Mode of Globalization

Since the 1980,economic globalization characteristic of trade liberalization,production internationalization and globalization of capital and technology has rapidly developed.As the objective demand of the development of social productivity and the inevitable outcome of technological advancements,globalization has contributed to the economic growth and boosted flows of capitals and commodities,further promoting constant development of technological revolution and productivity.

However,we also see that the current world economy is still experiencing twists and turns in its recovery process;the momentum for a new round of technological and industrial revolution is still in pregnancy and the traditional development mode is not sustainable.In some countries,populism,protectionism and isolationism are rising;global trade and investment are sluggish;negotiations on multilateral trading regime remain stagnant and deglobalization is in full swing.The global geopolitics remain complicated,traditional and non-traditional security issues are superimposed,international and regional hotspot and difficult problems become more complicated and global issues including sustainable development,climate change,terrorism,network security,public health security and energy and resource security are becoming more prominent.The global situation is entering a new period of uncertainty and instability.

Faced with emerging challenges and risks,some people attribute them to economic globalization.In Western countries that have long advocated and led globalization,the ideological trend of deglobalization simmers below the surface.Major political events including Donald Trump's being elected president of the USA and Brexit further push globalization to a strategic crossroads.Should the selection be continuing with mutual integration,mutual benefit and cooperation or shifting one's troubles onto others,advocating domestic priority and playing a lose-lose game? What course shall the international community choose?

I.Cognition of a New Mode of Globalization

It's true that the world economic downturn highlights contradictions between growth and distribution,capital and land as well as efficiency and equity,and exposes issues in the current economic globalization process such as the widening gap between the rich and the poor and imbalanced development between countries and regions,which we shall pay our serious attention to and dedicate ourselves to solving.However,avoiding globalization because of some attendant problems or bucking the trend neither conforms to the law of historic development nor helps solve the problems.Over 80 years ago when the USA was mired in the world recession and depression incurred from the world economic crisis,it was the words that “the only thing we have to fear is fear itself” in the inauguration speech of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt that filled the American people in darkness and fear with confidence and courage,which,together with the New Deal leading the USA out of the crisis and into the new boom.The rapid development of economic globalization in the past 30 years or so has mobilized transnational flows of capital,information,resources,products,personnel,technologies and ideas,which has greatly boosted the integration and growth of world economy.In a historical context,the rise of both the “East Asian Miracle” represented by the Four Asian Tigers since the 1980s and the emerging economies represented by China and India since the beginning of this century is closely tied to the overall international environment of economic globalization.In tackling diversified problems and challenges of the world,one can never get secured to rest content with the old practice or to stay immune from them,not to say maintain prolonged stability of the international community.We shall take a rational attitude toward globalization,affirm its achievements and admit its problems and imperfection,explore a new mode of globalization with an innovative and developing thinking through cooperative response and comprehensive measures and advance the constitution of an inclusive,fair and rational global governance pattern.