“We always insist on openness and tolerance,” Wang said, describing the belt and road as “a sunny avenue for everyone to move forward hand in hand with no small courtyards and high walls”.

“Different systems and civilisations are accommodated, and there is no ideological bias.”

While the belt and road programme began with economic cooperation, Wang said it was not limited to the economy, and was increasingly becoming a new platform for improving global governance.

Belt and road cooperation had not paused during the pandemic, he added, saying that most projects continued to advance with the trade volume of goods between China and its partners reaching a record high of US$1.35 trillion last year.

Wang said 140 countries had participated in the belt and road plan, a massive China-funded infrastructure network spanning from Asia to Europe that includes projects like ports, pipelines, railways. It had become the world’s largest international cooperation platform, bringing huge opportunities and dividends to countries all over the world, he said.

The cumulative trade volume between China and its belt and road partners exceeded US$9.2 trillion, and the cumulative direct investment of Chinese companies in countries along the route exceeded US$130 billion, according to Wang.

During the conference, Wang announced the launch of a belt and road vaccine partnership initiative to promote the equitable distribution of vaccines on a global scale. The 29 countries have agreed to cooperate to strengthen vaccine regulatory policy communication, and carry out joint research and technical exchanges.

They will also support governments and enterprises donating vaccines to developing countries, or the export of vaccines at affordable prices, and promote production partnerships to manufacture vaccines in developing countries.

Regional and multilateral development banks will be encouraged to provide developing countries with preferential financing for the procurement and production of vaccines.

Amid rising rivalry and competition with the West, with disputes including the South China Sea, Wang said the Asia-Pacific should be a highland for development cooperation, but not a geopolitical chess game.

And green development would be a priority, Wang said, announcing the launch of a belt and road green development partnership initiative to strengthen cooperation with all parties in the fields of green infrastructure, green energy, and green finance.

In recent years, critics have claimed that China is promoting coercive “debt-trap diplomacy” and the initiative has faced a backlash from countries such as Australia, which cancelled its state government’s belt and road deal with China in April, saying it was inconsistent with national foreign policy.

No evidence of China’s ‘debt-trap diplomacy’, researchers and analysts say

China’s ambassador to Canada Cong Peiwu struck a similar tone to the foreign minister in an article published on Tuesday by the Canada China Business Council (CCBC)’s website. He wrote that the belt and road plan was a platform for economic cooperation, not a geopolitical tool.

“Some people believe the BRI is China’s geopolitical tool aimed at seeking political interests, but this is completely wrong,” he wrote. Cong also said claims by some people accusing the initiative of being a white elephant and offering empty promises, which caused partner countries to fall into debt traps, were obviously “untenable”.

“Not a single BRI partner country has agreed with the claim of so-called ‘debt traps’. The debt issue, in essence, is an issue of underdevelopment,” he wrote.