Xi's Belt and Road speech wins wide praise

President Xi Jinping's keynote speech at the opening ceremony of the two-day Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation on Sunday earned wide praise from experts, international delegates and entrepreneurs.

"Spanning thousands of miles and years, the ancient silk routes embody the spirit of peace and cooperation, openness and inclusiveness, mutual learning and mutual benefit," Xi told an audience of more than 1,500 from across the globe.

The Belt and Road Initiative is "a project of the century" that will benefit people across the world, he said.

Here is a collection of comments from attendees.

Laurent Guyot, CEO of Thales China and vice-president of Thales Group - North Asia. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Laurent Guyot, CEO of Thales China and vice-president of Thales Group - North Asia

President Xi's speech certainly is encouraging and can generate many market growth points for both foreign and Chinese companies in the long-term. The Belt and Road Initiative is not only a simple instrument of promotion of trade. It is also a way of increasing connectivity, exchanges, mutual understanding and respect. Increasing connectivity, improving traffic infrastructures are two major pillars of the initiative.

We are willing to enhance the cooperation with countries and regions related to the initiative in areas including aerospace, transport, defense and security markets.

Thanks to its expertise in rail signaling and its advance in air traffic management, Thales is a major contributor to the improvement of safety, speed and efficiency in railways and air transport. It is easy to see what contributions Thales can make to the development of the Belt and Road Initiative.