Chinese Vice Premier Wang Yang on Monday delivered a speech at the fourth China-Eurasia Expo that opened in Urumqi, capital of northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. The following is the full text of the speech.

Work Together for the Silk Road Economic Belt And a Community of Shared Interests

Remarks by H.E. Wang Yang

Vice Premier of the State Council of the People's Republic of China At the Opening Ceremony of the 4th China-Eurasia Expo

Urumqi, 1 September 2014 Your Excellency Prime Minister Karim Masimov, Your Excellency Prime Minister Djoomart Otorbaev, Your Excellency Deputy Chairman of Parliament Zviad Dzidziguri, Ladies and Gentlemen,

It gives me great pleasure to be joined by all of you at the Fourth China-Eurasia Expo and China-Eurasia Economic Development and Cooperation Forum in the beautiful city of Urumqi. Entrusted by Premier Li Keqiang, I want to extend, on behalf of the Chinese government, hearty congratulations on the opening of the Expo and warm welcome to all the distinguished guests coming from afar.

One year ago, President Xi Jinping put forward the strategic vision of building a Silk Road Economic Belt. The initiative has been widely echoed in the international community. To turn this grand blueprint into reality at an early date is the ardent wish of the people of various countries. This year's Expo and Forum, under the theme of "Opening-up and Cooperation for Building the Silk Road Economic Belt", has brought together over 1,000 guests to seek their opinions, consensus and good advice. Let me take this opportunity to share with you some of my observations.

First, the argument for building the Silk Road Economic Belt is rooted in history and oriented toward the future. The ancient Silk Road ran on a miraculous land, a land of abundance, diverse ethnic groups and brilliant civilizations. This area was a forerunner in trade interactions and mutual learning among different civilizations, and a pace setter for human development for a long time in history. After the 16th century, due to various reasons, we missed too many historical opportunities for seeking strength through unity and for development and rejuvenation. Since the beginning of the 21st century, countries along the Silk Road have seized the opportunities brought by economic globalization and regional economic integration. A number of emerging countries and regional organizations are rising on the global stage, and various forms of regional and sub-regional cooperation are prospering, exerting a profound impact on the international political and economic landscapes. This area, with over 50 countries and 3.8 billion people, is one of the most promising regions in the world. As long as we take a long-term perspective and work in unison, we will make the pie of regional economic cooperation bigger.

Second, the core concept of building the Silk Road Economic Belt is openness and inclusiveness, joint development based on consultation, and mutual benefit. Openness and inclusiveness means that the economic belt is open in terms of geographic coverage and the countries involved. Any interested country is welcome to participate in the building of the economic belt and benefit from it. Joint development based on consultation means countries should engage in equal consultation to pool wisdom, harness their respective strengths and capabilities, and work together to make this great initiative a success. Mutual benefit means the interests of all sides will be accommodated and their aspirations reflected so that the people of all relevant countries will benefit from the initiative.

Third, the focus of building the Silk Road Economic Belt is connectivity in five areas. As advocated by President Xi Jinping, the priority of the initiative is connectivity of policy, transport, trade, currency and the heart of people. Connectivity of trade is the precursor; connectivity of transport is the foundation; connectivity of policy provides the guarantee; connectivity of currency is an important pillar; and connectivity of the heart of people is the source of driving force. The building of the economic belt will be deemed completed once connectivity is achieved in these five areas.

Fourth, the fundamental way of building the Silk Road Economic Belt is starting from easier areas and pursuing incremental progress. Building the Silk Road Economic Belt is a huge systemic project and a daunting long-term task that cannot be accomplished overnight. As a Chinese saying goes, a journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step and the journey has to be completed step by step. We should make sound top-level design to chart the course and set the goals. We also need to achieve early harvests as soon as possible through joint implementation of a number of major cooperation projects with great impact and leveraging effect in areas where consensus exists and conditions are ripe, so as to deliver real benefits to the people along the economic belt at an early date.