 It doesn't matter. Yeah, maybe they didn't want to take it. As long as I can hear it. Yeah, yeah. Hello. Welcome to Think Correct. And welcome to Understanding China. Here we are in Honolulu. And we have some friends from Beijing that we're going to be speaking to you live. Understanding China is about explaining the great ancient kingdom of China and the modern revolution that it has made of itself and for its people and how that revolution is affecting 1.4 billion people in China and by extension is affecting the whole world, all of us. So politically, economically, culturally in the arts this is all about understanding China from the point of view of the leaders of China. And today we have a return visit from a guest in the previous episode. And I asked a question to Lin Fanlin who is the executive director, the CEO of a large media company in Beijing. Beijing E-Mosa and I asked him Fanlin what effect will the One Belt One Road initiative that we've been discussing where China is expanding its view across the world what effect or what participation might America have in that strategy. So I'd like to replay just a little bit of that episode and then we translated Fanlin's answer which we missed at the very end of that episode and I thought that it was important for our listeners to hear the response that Fanlin had. Well this is actually very similar to the development philosophy, the international development philosophy of the United States which we've been trying to practice to share prosperity and technology and people with all the countries of the world especially since World War II. So I must say that it is really inspiring at this time to see China joining America in their role in international development and what America and China can do together could be very exciting. Yes, it is. China has become a second-largest economy and it is a very strong economy because from history China is also a great country in the East but apart from the cultural differences and the differences in China there are some differences in understanding so with China's economic power to increase the Chinese leaders we need to use more ways to eliminate China's misunderstandings so that we can respect different cultures and pursue the same values. So we'd like to ask for a moment for our translator in Beijing to explain what was just said there and then I want to ask a follow-up question to Lin Fanlin. In the past there have been a lot of misunderstandings in terms of what China is and what its economic revolution actually implies for the rest of the world and what I think Mr. Lin was trying to say is that now the Chinese is very much aware that it needs to do something to try and help people better understand China and its current endeavors in the world and that is exactly what it is doing with the One Belt One Road. It's not only a project of infrastructure building and economic development but it's also a project of mutual cultural understanding which is a very important part of it and this is basically what Mr. Lin wanted to express in his previous answer. So what I'd like to understand is the potential role that America and China as world development partners can have in implementing the One Belt One Road policy internationally across the whole world we understand the original concept of One Belt One Road and how far it goes from China to the west and now we're envisioning that belt coming all the way around the planet and with America as a potential partner. Mr. Lin said that even though the United States has been working on the United States and China for the past 15 to 16 years in terms of technology and energy I think that the next step will be based on infrastructure and the first collaboration between America and China Mr. Lin said that he believes that America and China have many common interests in terms of the One Belt One Road strategy and well America being the world's biggest economy and China being the second naturally they have a lot of economic interest for cooperation we can see from the situation in 2016 that America and China have cooperated a lot in fields like energy and technology and Mr. Lin believes that the next field for cooperation in the future will probably be the construction of more infrastructure across the globe. Okay and I'm curious to understand from a strategic point of view the resources that China is putting behind this effort are is China partnering government to government or are they bringing private sector people into play together with businesses in the other countries and are they working with NGOs and non-profit organizations also or is it mainly just government to government and large scale infrastructure Actually China and Belt One Road cooperation between these countries there are probably several forms one is government cooperation because Belt One Road and Belt One Road we have a brief freeze on the Beijing end and we'll try to reestablish that connection through audio sometimes Skype is a little bit irregular on the trans-specific connection so it takes us a few seconds to reestablish Hello I'm Crystal from Quok Talk I've got a new show here you've got to tune in, check out my topics on sensitive, provocative female issues so Tuesday mornings 10 o'clock don't miss it, it's going to be fun and dangerous Sure, what's your name? Does he continue speaking or does he work? Yes Beijing, we're back live again can you continue your response? Okay The second one is the market cooperation based on market cooperation this is the second layer of cooperation and the third one is from the social perspective we just talked about the popular capital this kind of open cooperation these several layers of cooperation to promote the Belt and Road and China and other countries including the United States Okay, well as Mr. Lin just said there are many different aspects to cooperation on the One Belt One Road strategy he has mentioned three and the first one is obviously to government cooperation as countries along the One Belt One Road line are mostly developing countries in terms of some policies we need the help of governments in order to establish and put into practice these policies the second level would be the markets themselves they play a huge guiding role in terms of their demand and the third aspect of it all would be a social aspect as you mentioned in terms of private capital and private investments sure, there are also a lot on that level to be said the most important thing to understand is that it's not necessarily working on three different levels but it's these three levels working together for the common promotion of One Belt One Road and these three levels also include America Okay I have a follow up question I've had a little experience in the international development field and what's been discovered over the years with US development strategy is that sometimes the bottom up is just as important as the top down in other words it's good to build railroads and ports and big hydroelectric dams but one of the most important things you can do with a developing economy for example and I think China has found this is if you educate women and you empower women to raise their children and give them understanding of how to raise their children in a healthy way with a profound effect on the economy and the future of a nation and I wonder if that kind of thinking is figuring in the strategy that China has with the nations that it's engaging with across the world Do you have any questions? Regarding this the women's independence and her own right is actually a very old topic I believe that in China in the whole world it's a very direct discussion but I believe in the modern society of China women have already surpassed our nation so I think what you just said I think maybe in the future including in China there will be more Mr. Lin just said that in terms of women's rights you're definitely very right it's a very old issue not only in China but as well as in the whole world as we all know in today's Chinese society though Mr. Lin has mentioned that the position of women is often even more is even superior to that of men now there are a lot of things that are being put into motion to make this even better not only in China obviously but along the One Belt One Road as well there's still a lot of work to be done obviously but our prospects in that matter are positive We'll be right back after this brief break it's the oldest overland trade route in the world a network dating back to the 5th century BC stretching from China through Central Asia to Europe's borders the Silk Road transported everything from spices to gunpowder and of course silk between East and West now China's President Xi Jinping is bringing it into the 21st century under the name One Belt One Road Goodbye Camels Hello Trains capable of transporting Chinese made goods like laptops 12,000 km to Germany that's faster than shipping by sea but maritime trade is also a big part of the One Belt One Road linking key ports in Asia Europe and Africa while the maritime route already carries much of the world's cargo its overland counterpart is much less developed and passes through some of the world's remote regions so the challenge for China and its partners create a 21st century superhighway while reducing prohibitive import and export tariffs so that East and West can do more business with each other Hello we're back for our second part of our program with Li Yanjun Li Yanjun is an old friend and someone who works, he's an economist and he works with the Ministry of Commerce to identify opportunities for China's businesses and for China's government agencies to make alliances across the world he's worked directly in Africa and in Europe and in Central Asia and he has a great deal of insight into the economic strategy behind the One Belt One Road policy understanding the Belt and Road initiative in one minute how the Belt and Road initiative will expand trade expanding global trade is one of the key priorities of the China proposed One Belt One Road initiative the grand design took concrete shape when China agreed to a 45 billion US dollar investment in Pakistan with most of the spending going to build the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor starting at Pakistan's Guardar Port on the Arabian Sea and ending at China's Xinjiang in the South Asian region and provide a shorter and cheaper route for trade with the Middle East and Africa statistics released by the China's Ministry of Commerce shows that during the first half of 2015 China has directly invested in 48 countries involved in the Belt and Road initiative with total investment volume reaching over 7 billion US dollars a year-on-year increase of 22% more trade potential will be tapped between countries along the route at this year's Boyle Forum for Asia in March President Xi Jinping said China's annual trade with countries along the One Belt One Road initiative could reach 2.5 trillion US dollars in 10 years meanwhile experts point out that to facilitate unimpeded trade steps will be taken to resolve investment in trade facilitation issues reduce investment in trade barriers lower trade investment costs as well as to promote regional economic integration so we're back now with Li Yanjun Li Yanjun from the Ministry of Commerce he heads an organization that works within the Ministry of Commerce to advise the Premier of China and other government agencies on the best strategy for China to have a positive impact across the world so Yanjun is very familiar with the One Belt One Road policy and its implementation and I have a first question for you Yanjun do you know the amount of capital that China has identified that will be deployed over the next 10 years for the One Belt One Road policy we've heard a number of estimates and I'd like to hear what is your understanding as to the amount of capital that will be coming from China to support the initiative ok this is the first day of the two meetings this year China's One Belt One Road China's One Belt One Road is also the one on the sea the one on the sea including the the one on the sea the one on the sea the one on the sea so on One Belt One Road like the 65 countries of the world we have the investment for China investment investment in the foreign company ah, a national open bank ah, ah, the and one more city is our foreign capital which is the Asia-Pacific Economic and Asia-Pacific Technology Investment Development Bank, and the gold bank, the gold bank of the national development bank. The third one is the commercial bank, the industrial bank, the Chinese industrial bank, the Chinese construction bank, and the Chinese agricultural bank. Okay, let's go ahead and translate some of this so far. Nicholas, can you translate it so far? Yes, so Mr Li said that today is the first day that the two sessions in China is going to start, so it's a very good topic to be talking about today. He says that China's One Belt One Road initiative, as we know, has a continental part and a maritime part to it, and that there are about 65 countries investing in it. In terms of China's investment, there are many different levels to it. Obviously, there's the China Development Bank as well as the Asian Infrastructure and Investment Bank that have been putting out a lot of capital and that will continue to do so. There are also many commercial banks in China that have been putting out capital for the strategy, such as China's Commercial Bank and China's Construction Bank and China's Agricultural Bank. This cooperation in terms of investment, China is obviously putting out a lot, but it's more something that will be done in cooperation with the other countries along the road under the guidance of the Chinese government and the governments of these countries as well. So it's a cooperative effort between the government of China and other governments. I'm particularly interested in the example of Pakistan, which was one of the first really big projects that China engaged with, building a huge hydroelectric power plant in Pakistan. Now, obviously, Pakistan is an extremely important country, very large population, and at a crossroads in Central Asia that involves China and India and Pakistan, the Islamic world. So I'm interested in Yanduan's assessment of that project and how it's working to bring hydroelectric power to the people of Pakistan and how it may work to bring stability to an area that needs a good deal of attention. Mr Lee says that China has been investing in the strategy of China to go out in the world and to implement its strategy has a lot to do with technology and environmental protection. In countries like Pakistan and Afghanistan and et cetera, there's a lot to do with technology and environmental protection. So I think it's really important for China to have a good deal of attention in terms of the strategy of China to go out in the world and to implement its strategy has a lot to do with technology and environmental protection. In countries like Pakistan and Afghanistan and et cetera, China has been investing in technology and infrastructure in order to solve the problem, the issue of providing electricity for these people. In addition to solving the problem of infrastructure building, transportation such as building roads, railways, in these fields, China has been a greatly increasing investment. There is an old Chinese sentence, an old Chinese saying that says that if you want to get rich, you must first build roads. And that is what China is trying to do for these countries, trying to build these roads that will connect these countries and its people together and then build the infrastructure, which includes this dam, which you've mentioned, that will be able to bring electricity to these people. That is how China is trying to help these countries connect these countries and invest in these countries. Mr Lee added that he hopes that the goal of China is to cooperate more with these countries in terms also of policies and to have a lot of bilateral preferential policies in terms of, for example, currency and payment in order to help enterprises in each country to go global and cooperate and invest and help each other. I have a follow-up question. I know that you have spent some time in Africa also looking into investments and projects there. Can you tell us of one example of a project in the continent of Africa in which China is involved? Mr Lee has said that in many countries like Africa, for example, he mentioned Morocco, China has been helping to build factories to improve the life of the people over there. He says that the way that China is currently supporting Africa has a lot to do with building infrastructure, obviously, but also with helping the country to industrialize and to build itself, to develop itself. Meanwhile, there are also a lot of organic resources that China can exploit for the African populations. This is a way that the continent of Africa and China have been able to realize win-win cooperation, win-win results, and win-win events. I think it will be fascinating in the coming years to see how the efforts of America and Europe to foster balanced development across the world start to mesh with the efforts of China to do the same thing. We certainly hope that that will turn into a series of partnerships that will be much greater than the sum of its parts, and that the insights that those three big developing groups have will be combined into something that's greater than the sum of its parts. So that's a theme that we'll keep exploring in Understanding China. And I want to thank Nicholas Bertiom, who is our translator for today. He comes to us from Beijing, Emoza, and we really thank Beijing, Emoza, and Lin Fan Lin for their support of this program. I want to acknowledge the efforts of Xiaofang Zhou in Beijing as the producer and the efforts of David Castellano in Beijing in making it possible for the bits to move across the Pacific. And it certainly worked a lot smoother this time, and we'll be back again soon with another episode of Understanding China.