by Naim-Ul-Karim

DHAKA, Nov. 9 (Xinhua) -- The pledges made by Chinese President Xi Jinping at the ongoing second China International Import Expo (CIIE) to promote higher-level opening up are a clear manifestation of China's commitment to holding out its arms wide open to the world, experts have said.

Ahsan H Mansur, executive director of leading Bangladeshi think tank Policy Research Institute, said China owes its progress to reform and opening-up.

"So far we understand China will continue to advance its engagement with the outside world as it did in the past decades," he said.

He said Xi's pledges are a reflection of the Chinese government's commitment to serving not only the Chinese people but also people from other countries across the world.

Meanwhile, he said the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is to bring benefits to all the countries and regions along the Belt and Road and beyond.

Former Bangladeshi Foreign Minister Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury said Xi's pledges attest to the fact that they ensure China's continued efforts to promote world development.

"We know...what he (Xi) promises will result in prosperity in China and beyond," said Chowdhury, now principal research fellow at the Institute of South Asian Studies in the National University of Singapore.

From combating pollution to poverty eradication, he said no other country in the world has done more than China in boosting sustainable development.

Echoing these views, Munshi Faiz Ahmad, chairman of the Bangladesh Institute of International and Strategic Studies, said China is creating opportunities for the world.

With reference to the CIIE, he said all countries and regions across the world should try to seize this opportunity and be prepared to expand their capacity to bolster exports to China.

"We should look at China's good policies well. We should refrain from misinterpreting. We hope that China will never suffer setback in its way forward," he said, while expressing the hope that the BRI will provide a great platform for global cooperation.

"China, through its peaceful rise, has already proven that it's not a threat to global peace, progress and stability," he said.