Initiative marks transition of grand vision By Robert Lawrence Kuhn | China Daily | Updated: 2017-05-13 08:55 LI MIN/CHINA DAILY The Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation marks a transition of high symbolism in President Xi Jinping's grand vision for a new era of win-win globalization. The core idea is to structure, finance and build critical infrastructure in developing economies, as well as diversify and expand the Chinese economy, which needs restructuring. This is the fourth Belt and Road forum I will attend. Xi announced the Silk Road Economic Belt as a "grand cause benefiting people in regional countries along the ancient route" in Kazakhstan in September 2013. In June 2014, I was asked to articulate the vision at the first Belt and Road forum in Urumqi, Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region. I described five categories: history, culture, trade, mutual development and peaceful development. The second forum was in Quanzhou, Southeast China's Fujian province, in February 2015. It enlarged the vision to include the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, engaging Southeast Asia, South Asia, the Middle East and East Africa. The third forum was held in Xi'an, Northwest China's Shaanxi province, in September 2016, with the theme "Shared Memory, Common Development". To comprehend Xi's Belt and Road Initiative, one must appreciate globalization, which is founded on the perennial law of comparative economic advantage but which is suffering discontent due to its differential impact on workers in Western countries. In a reversal of historic proportions, China now champions globalization, while the United States is now conflicted with "America First" protectionism. China's developmental miracle is founded on globalization, as Chinese workers made China the low-cost manufacturing center of the world. But China's old model no longer works－for one, workers must be paid higher salaries to rebalance severe socio-economic imbalances. Chin