Xi's New Year speech draws praise

Ruan Zongze, executive vice-president of the China Institute of International Studies, said the president's New Year speech sent a clear signal of increasing opening-up, which has great significance for not only China but also the whole world.

"The Belt and Road Initiative and the proposal to build a community with a shared future for mankind are most important and most practical measures taken by China to boost opening-up," he said.

Luigi Gambardella, president of ChinaEU, a Brussels-based international association focused on internet, telecommunications and technology, said Xi's speech laid out ambitious proposals for international cooperation "in an era in which multilateral trust is becoming less".

"I am confident that a brave and determined China, committed to further implementing reforms and opening its doors wider to the outside world, can only be good news and a great source of inspiration for other nations," he said.

Jon Taylor, a professor of political science of the University of St. Thomas in Houston in the United States, said, "I liked that Xi reiterated his pledge to cut taxes and fees in order to ease the burden on private enterprises."

In April, China will host the second Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation, and the second China International Import Expo will be held later this year.

The forum represents greater opening-up by China, while the import expo will expand connections with the world, State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi said at a diplomatic symposium held in Beijing last month.

"They are China's important, practical contribution to the building of an open world economy," Wang said, adding that China will work with all other countries to expand common interests and share opportunities through openness and cooperation.

Ivona Ladjevac, head of the regional center for the Belt and Road Initiative at the Institute of International Politics and Economics in Belgrade, Serbia, said the BRI already has created visible effects in different regions.

Li Haidong, a professor of US studies at China Foreign Affairs University, said China's cooperation with emerging markets and developing countries will be enhanced this year.

"President Xi's speech has shown clearly that China will keep opening up in the following decades and achieve common prosperity through embracing the world," he said.

Cecily Liu in London and Tang Ying in Nairobi contributed to this story.