Co-building “the Belt and Road” With Islamic Countries Shoud Focus on the Cultural and Religious Attributes

Abstract

Abstract The year 2023 marks the 10th anniversary of the Belt and Road Initiative. In the past decade, the initiative has been transformed from theory to practice, from vision to reality, with more and more countries and international organizations participating in the initiative, more and more fruitful results were achieved, and more and more tangible benefits for the people of the co-building countries. Islamic countries have natural location advantages, rich resource endowment, and potential demographic dividend, which are an important force that cannot be ignored in the joint construction. Islamic countries have a wide geographical distribution and population coverage and a great influence in the international arena. At the same time, there are many differences among Islamic countries themself. In this paper, we will outline the important impact of cultural and religious attributes when cobuilding “the Belt and Road” with Islamic countries from four aspects: history, reality, opportunities, and challenges, and gain a comprehensive and accurate understanding of the cultural and religious attributes and their development of these countries, which will help us better cooperate with Islamic countries. A comprehensive and accurate understanding of the cultural and religious attributes and their development of these countries will help us better cooperate with Islamic countries for mutual benefit and win-win cooperation, and promote the high-quality construction of the Belt and Road.