The belt and road initiative and its implication for Italy

Trade is a key to open the door of economic globalization and promote economic development and technological progress, which has been the case since ancient times. In ancient China, during the Xi Han Dynasty (202-8 BC) Emperor Han Wu sent Zhang Qian as an envoy to the Western Regions, starting from the capital Chang an, passing through Gansu and Xinjiang, to Central Asia, West Asia, and connecting the land of Mediterranean countries. Its original function was to transport silk produced in ancient China and later it became an important trade route for Western countries and ancient China. Not only the trade of goods (animals, plants, leather goods, medicinal materials, spices, jewelry, etc.) but also exchanges of culture (language, Singing, and dancing, calligraphy, and painting), religion (Buddhism), technology (papermaking, printing). Envoys and businessmen from all over the world keep coming and going. From the nobles to the beggars and prisoners, they have left their footprints on this road, opening a new era of Sino-foreign exchanges. In 1877, the name "Silk Road" which described the western region traffic road with silk trade as the medium, was popularized by a German geographer Ferdinand von Richthofen wrote in his book "China". This term was quickly accepted by academia and the general public and used officially. More than two thousand years later, in September 2013, when visiting Kazakhstan and Indonesia, Chinese President Xi Jinping raised the initiative of jointly building the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road. The Chinese government then set up the Leading Group for Promoting the Belt and Road Initiative with an administrative office under the National Development and Reform Commission. On March 28, 2015, the Chinese government published the "Vision and Actions on Jointly Building Silk Road Economic Belt and 21st Century Maritime Silk Road". After the opening of the "Belt and Road" economic zone, the number of contracted projects exceeded 3,000. Chinese companies have made direct investments in 49 countries related to the “Belt and Road” initiative, and the investment amount increased by 18.2% year-on-year. In 2015, China undertook US$17.83 billion in service outsourcing contracts from countries related to the “Belt and Road”, and the executed value was US$12.15 billion, representing a year-on-year increase of 42.6% and 23.45% respectively. On March 23, 2019, as a Chinese student studying in Italy, I was honored to witness the moment when China and Italy signed the "Belt and Road" memorandum. As a rarely developed country among the signatories, it is also the first G7 member to formally join the “Belt and Road” initiative. I am so looking forward to seeing the impact and change of the Belt and Road Initiative in my life in Italy. Taking this opportunity, I hope that through my research, I can gain a deeper, multi-faceted understanding and experience of the Belt and Road Initiative and its impact on Italy.