CRI听力:Oxford University launches program on Belt and Road initiative

Guests from the university, UN organizations and World Forum on China Studies, among others, have exchanged views on the initiative in terms of law, trade and investment, economic activities, cultural heritage and policy-making. 

Michael O.K. Yeoh from Malaysia, co-founder and CEO of Asian Strategy and Leadership Institute, says the implementation of the "Belt and Road" initiative can not only benefit 70 percent of the world's population, but also make a significant contribution to the world's GDP. 

"China is the biggest trading partner of all the other countries in southeast Asia. I think the Belt and Road will also benefit the countries in the central Asia, republics, the Eurasian Union. Many of them are going to benefit from the increased infrastructure, as well as in the construction of new gas pipeline and oil pipelines," said Yeoh.

As an independent research program, the Belt and Road encourages interdisciplinary research in economics, law, sociology, geography and anthropology. 

Denis Galligan, director of the Belt and Road Institute at the University of Oxford, emphasizes that coordination is a must on an international level.

"We tend to think of it as financial trade. It's much more than that. As the Chinese authorities themselves said at the beginning - it has two sides, one is the trade business, what I call the hard side; the other is the soft side - the cultural. You are an old civilization, you've got a lot to offer but not only you, you've all those countries along the way, each with its own cultural heritage which needs to be protected and preserved. Again, it requires coordination at the international level," said Galligan.

The director adds cross-border law frameworks are needed to provide unified standards and rules, and it is important to discuss questions on the basis of global governance.