8月24日，驻卡拉奇总领事李碧建在巴基斯坦《金融时报》发表题为《“一带一路”倡议助力应对新冠肺炎疫情，促进经济社会发展》署名文章。《地区时报》、《云雀日报》、《AZB日报》等媒体同日转载。
文章指出，新冠肺炎疫情是全球性挑战，严重威胁人类健康、安全和福祉以及各国经济社会发展，需通过全球团结互助和多边合作应对。“一带一路”倡议在统筹各方抗击疫情，推动经济社会发展方面的作用举足轻重。疫情对“一带一路”的影响是暂时的、局部的。长远看，经过疫情的考验，共建“一带一路”的基础将更加牢固，动力将更加充沛，前景将更加广阔。
文章强调，疫情发生以来，中国与共建“一带一路”国家守望相助、共同抗疫。各国通过及时分享信息及疫情诊疗经验和最佳实践、加强和升级公共卫生系统能力、促进卫生专家对话、为有需要的国家提供帮助等方式，合作应对、控制并战胜疫情。“一带一路”倡议成为合作伙伴抗击新冠疫情的重要平台。与此同时，“一带一路”合作伙伴开展全方位、宽领域务实有效合作，为各国经济发展创造更多新增长点，为全球经济复苏提供更多新动力源。“一带一路”倡议助力推动有序复产复工及经济恢复，实现可持续发展。
文章认为，在当前新冠肺炎疫情全球蔓延的大背景下，“一带一路”倡议继续平稳有序推进，为阴霾中的世界注入了信心和正能量，成为全球共同抗疫、促进经济社会发展的重要平台，生动诠释了“风雨同舟、和衷共济”的“一带一路”精神。下一步，有关各方将秉持共商共建共享原则，坚持开放、绿色、廉洁，追求高标准、惠民生、可持续，促进共建“一带一路”国家开展包括疫情防控在内的各领域合作，推动高质量共建“一带一路”行稳致远。
英文原文如下：
“Belt and Road” Initiative Helps Fight against COVID-19
Promoting Economic and Social Development
The COVID-19 pandemic is a global challenge that seriously threatens the health safety and well-being of mankind, as well as the economic and social development of various countries. It needs to be addressed through global solidarity, mutual assistance and multilateral cooperation. The pandemic truly has some impact on the "Belt and Road" cooperation, but it is temporary and partial. While recognizing the core role of the United Nations in promoting and coordinating a global response to the spread of COVID-19, and the key leadership role of the World Health Organization (WHO), regional initiatives, organizations and arrangements have played a pivotal role in fighting against the pandemic and promoting economic and social development. From the overall and long-term perspective, with mitigation of the effects of the pandemic, the foundation for the joint construction of the "Belt and Road" initiative will be stronger, the momentum will be more abundant, and the prospects will be broader.
The "Belt and Road" initiative has become an important platform for partners to fight against the pandemic.
The construction of sanitary cooperation system under the "Belt and Road" initiative has taken shape since . China issued a three-year implementation plan for sanitary communication and cooperation and signed a memorandum with WHO. Other sanitary cooperation under the multilateral system like APEC, BRICS, SCO has been also tightened ever since. After the outbreak of the pandemic, China and the countries along the corridors of "Belt and Road" have been helping each other and fighting against the pandemic: supporting each other in efforts to combat the pandemic; cooperating in response and control through timely sharing of necessary information, diagnosis and treatment experience and best practices; strengthening and upgrading public health system capabilities; promoting dialogues among health experts and providing assistance to countries in need to defeat the pandemic.
The "Belt and Road" infrastructure projects and cross-regional transportation and logistics channels have been playing an important role in protecting the supply chain and promoting smooth international trade, which is critical to ensure peoples livelihood during the pandemic. For example, energy project under China-Pakistan Economic Corridor has continued to operate, providing Pakistan with one-third of its electricity. China-Europe trains maintain a high frequency, and the "steel camel team" has played an active role in ensuring the transportation of anti-pandemic materials. In the case of large-scale suspension of flights in the region, the number of departures and shipments in January to April increased by 24% and 27% with a year on year basis. The cumulative delivery of nearly 8000 tons of anti-pandemic materials has become a veritable "road to life" through Eurasia. The new bridge in Parapetti, Bolivia, constructed by Chinese enterprises has been opened, the extension of the southern expressway of Sri Lanka has been put into operation, the construction of the China-Laos Kunwan Railway has proceeded in an orderly manner, and the Cambodian dual fuel power plant has entered the peak of construction. These "hard-core" measures and achievements have demonstrated strong supports provided to the pandemic prevention and control and boosted the enthusiasm and confidence of all countries in participating in the co-construction.
At the "Belt and Road" international cooperation high level video conference held on June 18th, participating countries issued a joint statement calling upon all countries to unite and play an active role in combating the pandemic, responding to the impact of the pandemic, and restoring economic and social sustainable development. At the same time, countries are encouraged to establish joint pandemic prevention and control mechanisms at bilateral, regional, and international levels as necessary. At the same time, China welcomes efforts to restore cross-border personnel flow in an orderly and gradual manner on the basis of strictly taking necessary pandemic prevention and control measures, supports countries in need to carry out bilateral and multilateral cooperation through the establishment of corresponding cooperation networks, and encourages relevant measures taken in this regard, including communication and coordination to promote mutual recognition of health testing and pandemic prevention arrangements agreed by relevant departments of various countries.
The "Belt and Road" initiative helps to promote orderly resumption of production and economic recovery, and achieve sustainable development.
Despite the adverse impact of the pandemic, the pace of cooperation in the "Belt and Road" is still going fast. In the first quarter of this year, Chinas investment in countries jointly building the "Belt and Road" increased by 11.7% and its trade volume increased by 3.2%, providing a powerful boost for countries to overcome the pandemic and restore the economy. The "Belt and Road" partners have launched pragmatic and effective cooperation in all aspects and in a wide range of fields. Financial support has been continuously consolidated, cooperation under the rule of law has escorted, and people-to-people exchanges have been vivid. The construction challenge of the "Digital Silk Road" is an opportunity to focus on promoting cooperation in the field of big data, Internet Plus, and smart cities, and to play the role of new economic and trade methods, creating more new growth points for the economic development of countries, and providing more new sources of power for the global economic recovery. The "Health Silk Road" conforms to the strong willingness of the countries along the route to strengthen cooperation in the medical and health field, and will gradually advance international cooperation projects in the health field to safeguard the lives and health of people of all countries.
The "Belt and Road" partner countries emphasize the importance of fair competition and intellectual property protection. Based on the prevention and control of the pandemic, we will follow the professional recommendations of the WHO and other relevant international organizations to promote economic recovery, especially to promote orderly resumption of production and reintegration into the global value chain. Against the background of the pandemic impacting global economic and social development, countries need to strengthen cooperation in the digital economy, medical industry and food safety, and cultivate new economic growth points in the fields of e-commerce, smart cities, artificial intelligence and big data technology applications, learning from international good practices and narrow the digital divide.
Against the background of the current global spread of the pandemic, the "Belt and Road" initiative has not only stood firm, but continued to advance smoothly and orderly, injecting confidence and positive energy into the world growth and becoming an important platform for global joint anti-pandemic efforts. The pandemic fully proves that the destinies of all countries are closely connected and there exists a community of shared destiny for mankind. In dealing with the pandemic or restoring the economy, the partners shall take the road of solidarity and cooperation, and adhere to multilateralism. Promoting interconnection and solidarity, and insisting on openness and tolerance are the only way to cope with global crises and achieve long term development.
