Advisory Council meets in Ningbo to promote high-quality BRI cooperation

The Advisory Council of the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation 2025 convened on Thursday in Ningbo, Zhejiang Province, to discuss strategies for fostering high-quality collaboration under China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).

The meeting, centered on the theme "High-Quality Belt and Road Cooperation for an Open, Inclusive, and Interconnected World of Common Development," brought Advisory Council members together for in-depth discussions on international cooperation under the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). Key topics included trade and investment liberalization, facilitation measures, and collaborative opportunities in the digital economy and artificial intelligence (AI).

Participants said the BRI proposed by China has injected stability into global development and represents a crucial opportunity to drive economic growth and promote shared prosperity worldwide. They also underscored the importance of promoting high-quality Belt and Road cooperation, with a focus on high-quality infrastructure and industrial partnerships, building a multidimensional connectivity network, and advancing the Green and Digital Silk Roads in the face of global challenges.

The Advisory Council members stressed that BRI participating countries should uphold shared interests and international fairness and justice, safeguard the multilateral trading system and global economic order, and promote multilateralism and free trade. They called for greater trade and investment liberalization and facilitation, enhanced regional free trade arrangements, and deeper regional integration. They also emphasized the need to strengthen cooperation in the digital economy and AI under the BRI framework, and support capacity building in the Global South.

"If you look at trade between Africa and China, it was very low 20 years ago. It was just about 10 billion. Now you are looking at trade that is over 300 billion, and that has also grown both ways. Now the next chapter that we are also pushing together now with China, is to look at areas, particularly in research and development in artificial intelligence," said Jernalese Erastus Onkundi Mwencha, former Africa Union Deputy Chairperson.

Vice Foreign Minister Ma Zhaoxu attended the meeting. He said Belt and Road cooperation will open up more opportunities for economic collaboration between China and other countries and is expected to make greater contributions to economic growth and improved livelihoods in the participating nations.

"China is now a major trading partner of more than 150 countries and regions, and a key source of investment for an increasing number of countries. In the first quarter of this year, the BRI participating countries accounted for 51.1 percent of China's total foreign trade. We stand ready to further strengthen trade and investment cooperation with them, and jointly uphold an open, fair, inclusive, equal and non-discriminatory multilateral trading system that is centered on the World Trade Organization (WTO) and based on rules," he said.

Advisory Council meets in Ningbo to promote high-quality BRI cooperation

A major port in northern Venezuela came under U.S. airstrikes in the early hours of January 3, which caused extensive damage to civilian infrastructure, destroyed critical medical supplies in a warehouse, and severely impacted centuries-old cultural heritage sites, according to local residents.

The La Guaira Port, a vital hub for imports that support daily life in the region, was heavily damaged during the attack.

Large quantities of medical supplies stored at the port were destroyed. A historic cultural building dating back for some 300 years was also badly damaged by the bombardment.

Residents living near the port recalled the terrifying scenes as explosions shook nearby neighborhoods.

Humberto Bolivar, who lives in a community separated from the port by only a main road, said the blast waves shattered his home's windows, while stray shrapnel struck the water tank on his roof. According to reports, three missiles were fired at the port that night.

Bolivar said that beyond material losses, he is most concerned about the psychological impact on his children, who remain too frightened to leave their home days after the attack.

"The United States invaded our country. The children were frightened. This is not good for them, because it leaves some children with psychological trauma. They do not want to go to school or leave the house, because they are afraid that something worse might happen. We truly do not want this to happen to our country," he said.

Apart from civilian facilities, local cultural heritage site was also affected.

The La Guaira state government building, a structure with nearly 300 years of history and once served as the site of Venezuela's first national customs office, was struck by the force of the explosions.

Windows of the building were shattered, and furniture scattered across the floor.

"As people of La Guaira, we feel deep pain. Our cultural heritage has been bombed. We are living in constant anxiety and suffering, and life can no longer be the same as it was before," said a local named Henry Cumares.

The U.S. side has claimed the airstrikes targeted warehouses allegedly used to store narcotics. However, locals refuted such accusation.

"According to what Donald Trump said, they bombed this place using the excuse that the warehouses here were used to store drugs at the port. But based on the video released by our governor, these warehouses that were burned contained medicine for kidney patients and foods. Many people depend on these supplies to survive. I think the bombing is extremely despicable," said a local resident named Alejandro Capriles.

US strike hits Venezuelan port, wrecking medical supplies, heritage building