China’s Belt and Road can win world’s trust, Singapore minister tells Davos
Chan Chun Sing, one of three contenders to be the next prime minister of the Lion City, urges Beijing to show its ‘benevolence’
China can allay fears about its rapid economic rise by using its new-found clout in a benevolent manner, a Singaporean minister has said, touting the New Silk Road project as a potential catalyst for the “next phase of growth in the global economy”.
“I can understand and I have heard theories where people are afraid, hesitant about China’s growth,” Chan said at a session on the Belt and Road Initiative at the World Economic Forum in Davos on Wednesday.
“But this is an important historical opportunity for China to convince the rest of the world that actually its actions have a broader perspective,” Chan said.
Beyond just commercial viability and spurring economic activity in the participant countries, the initiative can be a network that “allows the world to participate in the next phase of growth in the world economy”, said Chan, who holds the portfolio of minister in the prime minister’s office.