BEIJING — The Belt and Road Initiative has yielded fruitful results during the past five years, Zhang Yesui, spokesman for the first session of the 13th National People’s Congress (NPC) said in Beijing on March 4.

“This year marks the fifth anniversary of the Belt and Road Initiative proposed by Chinese President Xi Jinping. Thanks to joint efforts from all parties, this initiative is being turned into actions from a concept, and being translated into reality from a vision,” Zhang said.

Infrastructure connectivity building has yielded early harvests, policy communication is going deeper, cooperation mechanisms are being strengthened, and collaboration is unfolding across the board, according to Zhang.

All these concrete results fully demonstrate that the initiative has really responded to the trend for win-win cooperation and the shared aspiration for common development, he said.

“To say that the Belt and Road Initiative is a geostrategic tool, in my view, this is a misinterpretation of the initiative,” he said.

The Belt and Road Initiative is a proposal for economic cooperation. It focuses on connectivity and aims at achieving win-win outcome, hoping to create more opportunities for global economic growth and shared prosperity of all countries.

The initiative is guided by the principle of pursuing shared benefits through consultation and collaboration, all participants are equal partners in this process. “Being an open and inclusive platform, it doesn’t exclude or target any country, but opens to all those who are interested,” Zhang said.

To provide strong legal support, the NPC Standing Committee has made decisions to ratify treaties and agreements signed between China and countries along the Belt and Road routes, according to Zhang.

“It is natural for the initiative to face challenges in its early stage,” the spokesman said, adding that China welcomes all parties to work together to pursue shared benefits through dialogue and collaboration.