一带一路：美丽新世界

The right math

算好发展账

China is doing math, but what kind?

中国在算一笔账。什么账呢？

It is an equation that will solve a problem the whole world is facing: Connectivity and growth. And China’s answer is simply to add values, be it bridges, roads, ports, industrial parks, training centers or stadiums. What China is doing is basically providing something useful to the world. 

这笔账就是解决世界面临的一个难题，如何联通和发展。中国的答案很简单: 创造更多价值。无论建造桥梁、道路、港口、工业园区、培训中心还是体育场，中国为世界提供有用的东西。

The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) gathered 19 billion U.S. dollars in investments by last August. And the Piraeus port has created 10,000 jobs for Greece. The China cargo trains to Europe have delivered more than 570,000 20-foot equivalent units (TEU) of goods in seven years, an amount that can fill 21 Empire State Buildings. All these would not be possible if there were no BRI. 

截至去年8月，中巴经济走廊已经获得190亿美元的各方投资。比雷埃夫斯港为希腊创造了1万个就业机会。中欧班列货运列车七年内运送了超过57万个标箱的货物，足以填满21座帝国大厦。如果没有“一带一路”，这些皆不可能。

Land-locked countries become land-linked. For businesses, efficiency solves deficiency. And for people, connectivity brings ingenuity. More than 150 countries and international organizations have signed on to the belt and road. And a study by the World Bank concluded that BRI projects could lift global GDP by 3%. 

对国家而言，内陆国家变得山水相连。对企业来说，此地高效回应了彼方需求。以普通人来看，互联互通催化出崭新的事业。150多个国家和国际组织已经签署了“一带一路”协议。世界银行研究表明，“一带一路”可以使全球生产总值提升3%。

The BRI is a boost to the world. 

一带一路为世界发展注入新动力。

Half full or half empty?

半满还是半空？

But the perception of the BRI is different. Fundamentally, it is a problem of how to frame your thinking. Do you appreciate the water in your cup or do you whine about the space left to be filled?

但是人们对“一带一路”的看法却不尽相同。从根本上说，这是思考方式的问题。面对杯中之水，你是心怀感激还是对水杯未满心存抱怨？

Some western politicians say China is deliberately overloading weak countries with loans, and when they buckle, China will seize their assets. First of all, they forget why these countries need the loans in the first place. Without the money, the people would never see a new road or bridge. China can prove this with 40 years of report cards. 

一些西方政客表示，中国故意让穷国背负过多债务。这样，当这些国家被压垮的时候，中国就会攫取其资产。首先，他们忽略了这些国家需要贷款的根本原因。没有钱，那里的人们就永远看不到新的道路和桥梁。中国可以用40年来取得的成就证明这一点。

Secondly, the risks of the loans have been totally overblown. A typical example is Hambantota. The Sri Lankan port failed commercially and was handed over to the Chinese company on a 99-year lease. Yes, the Chinese are now running the port, but they do not own it and have no reason to do so. A Johns Hopkins University study shows that among 3,000 China-financed projects, no example can support the debt trap theory. 

其次，贷款的风险完全被夸大了。一个典型的例子是汉班托特港。这个斯里兰卡的港口商业运作失败后，就租赁给中国公司经营，租期为99年。没错，现在中国公司经营着这个港口，但中国人并没有鸠占鹊巢，也没有理由这样做。约翰∙霍普金斯大学的一项研究显示，由中国出资的3000个项目中，没有一个适用债务陷阱理论。

On the contrary, China is the one that put its money where his mouth is. And China is the one that actually makes things happen. It is easy to criticize, but the question is what you can offer instead? When you are a hammer, everything you see is a nail. But the world at the 21st century is not a place for hammers, it is for builders. 

相反，中国却是言出必行，脚踏实地。批评别人很容易，但问题是如何行动？如果你是锤子，你看到的就只有钉子。但在21世纪的今天，锤子无甚大用。世界需要的是勤勉肯干的建造者。

Open for all

有容乃大

I don't think the BRI is perfect and no one should take any human endeavor for granted.

我不认为“一带一路”已经尽善尽美，任何人类的努力都不是理所当然。

As President Xi said "plants with strong roots grow and efforts with sharp focus succeed". BRI has strong roots from global demand and should succeed with the right focus, which in this case is openness.

习主席引用古人说, “万物得其本者生，百事得其道者成”。意思是有着牢固根基的植物方能茁壮生长，有的放矢的努力终会取得成功。有着国际需求这一牢固根基，找准重点，“一带一路”就能顺利前行。而重点正是兼收并蓄、海纳百川。

The BRI is not just one belt or one road. It is many belts and many roads. And many of the roads don't lead to Beijing. They will be paths from anywhere and to everywhere. It is an agreement to come together. Like plants in an ecosystem; to live we need not one tree, not two trees, but a forest. We can do great good if we work together and together is how we must be for a whole new world.

虽称作一带一路，但这一倡议却包括多条带路联通，其中很多都不指向北京。这些通道始于四面八方，连接天南地北。这是各国携手共进的承诺。就像生态系统中的各种植被。要生存，一两棵树是不够的，我们需要一整片森林。共同努力，成天下之大同；携手并肩，造美丽新世界。