The silk road economic Belt and the 21st-Century Maritime silk road Initiative once again drew the worlds attention during the Belt and road summit held in Beijing in May 2017. Faced with challenges in the global and regional economies， the summit highlighted the mutual development goals of the various nations involved in order to inject new impetus into the world economy.

The Belt and road routes run across the continents of asia， europe， and africa， connecting the vibrant east asian economic circle at one end with the developed european economic circle at the other. They encompass countries with huge potential for economic development. The silk road economic Belt focuses on bringing together China， Central asia， russia and europe （the Baltic） while linking China with the Persian Gulf and the Mediterranean sea through Central asia and West asia， and connecting China with southeast asia， south asia， and the Indian ocean.

The 21st-Century Maritime silk road is designed to go from the east coast of China to europe. one route leads through the south China sea and the Indian ocean， and the other from Chinas coast through the south China sea to the south Pacific. China has called for the countries along the routes to strengthen partnerships by promoting policy coordination， facilitating connectivity， unimpeded trade， financial integration and people-topeople bonds.

Much has been achieved in the past three years since the initiative was first put forward. Pooling the ideas of all parties， the summit aimed to help align and coordinate the development strategies of the countries along the Belt and road to realize mutual complementarity and common prosperity.

at the summit， key fields of cooperation were teased out and cooperation priorities were determined. at the same time， participants envisioned medium- and long-term cooperation plans and discussed long-acting cooperation mechanisms to jointly build the Belt and road through consultation to meet the interests of all.

lets forge ahead along the Belt and road.