The China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) serves as a unique example of equal and mutually beneficial cooperation, Vitaly Mankevich, president of the Russian-Asian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs (RAUIE), told Xinhua in a recent interview.

Amid the rising problem of global trade barriers and protectionism, "the BRI emerges as a unique project that promotes globalization and equal, mutually beneficial cooperation among all participants, which underscores the initiative's special significance," he said.

The initiative has essentially become the only opportunity for smaller and less prosperous nations to receive support, implement major infrastructure and industrial projects on their territory, and generate many new jobs, Mankevich said.

Russia has always shown great interest in the BRI, he added.

Mankevich believes that this interest was quite practical, especially in terms of the benefits that China's partners have gained through cooperation within the framework of the initiative. The Russian expert recalled that in May 2015, Russia and China agreed to link the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) with the Silk Road Economic Belt.

"The Belt and Road Initiative aligns with the initiative put forward by Russia to form a greater Eurasian partnership, where different integration efforts such as the Belt and Road, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and the EAEU can be linked together," Mankevich said.

The expert believes that Russia, with the largest territory in the world, is capable of contributing to the implementation of the initiative. In his opinion, an important addition will be the "North-South" corridor that is being built, which connects Russian ports of the Baltic Sea and in the Arctic with ports on the coast of the Persian Gulf and the Indian Ocean.

Another route from North to South will pass through Siberia, and the central section of the Trans-Siberian Railway is currently being modernized for this cause.

"It is now essential to revise these plans in light of the new realities, intensify dialogue between the EAEU and China, and develop a clear strategy for implementing the agreements," Mankevich said.

He is confident that the BRI is what the world needs today to counter negative trends, maintain positive rates of cooperation, and give impetus to global and regional economic development.