The two-day Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation,which starts Sunday, is expected to translate the Chinaproposed initiative into solid progress,according to officials and experts.

It will be the highestprofile international meeting on the Belt and Road since the initiative was proposed by President Xi Jinping in 2013.

With the global economy remaining sluggish, it meets an increasing need for a new way for nations to work together.

Twenty nine heads of state and three leaders ofmajor international organizations, including Antonio Guterres, secretarygeneral of the UnitedNations,will attend.

Xi will attend the opening and deliver the keynote speech on Sunday.OnMonday,hewill preside over a roundtable, including two sessions and a working lunch. Xi also will speak to reporters about forum results.

On Sunday, there will be a highlevel plenary session and sessions on different themes,including think tank exchanges.

The Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, known as the Belt and Road,aim to build a trade and infrastructure network connecting Asia with the rest of the world. It is open and inclusive to all countries.

China and roundtable participantswill issue a joint communique on building the Belt and Road.Cooperation documents also will be signed.

Some 1,500 guests from over 130 countries will attend as official representatives,and over 4,000 journalists from around the world registered to cover the forum.

The initiative has been widely recognized internationally, showing it is in accordance with the will of the people, Xi said lastmonth.China has highlighted inclusiveness fromthe beginning. "Instead of seeking any sphere of influence,

China calls on all countries to join the circle of friends for the Belt and Road," Xi said early last year in Cairo,Egypt.

"Through the Belt and Road Initiative,I want to share China's development opportunities with the countries along the routes and achieve joint prosperity," Xi said at the G20meeting in September.

Foreign Minister Wang Yi compared it to "a circle of friends" open to all countries that share the same goals. "We do not need 'lone heroes'but partners who pull together in times of trouble," he said.

"China would like to take this forum as an opportunity to have extensive consultation with likeminded partners about cooperation, make joint contributions to building an open platform and share the benefits brought by development,"Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said on Thursday.

The initiative has yielded fruitful outcomes in the past three years.Chinese businesses have invested over $60 billion in countries along the Belt and Road and have helped to build 56 economic and trade cooperation zones in 20 of those countries, creating some 180,000 local jobs, according to the National Development and Reform Commission.

Wang Yiwei, professor of international relations at RenminUniversity of China, said that during the forum, China's experience in reform and openingup,urbanization and poverty reduction can be absorbed by others as the Belt and Road Initiative is built.

The initiative's three major strands - infrastructure, trade and investment, and industrial capacity cooperation - will inject fresh energyintotheworldeconomy,saidChen Xiaochen, a researcher in financial studies at RenminUniversity.

It is one of the most important public goods China offers theworld,said Jin Yong, a professor of international relations at the CommunicationUniversity of China.

anbaijie@chinadaily.com.cn