President Xi Jinping’s call for unity and shared prosperity during his keynote speech at the Belt and Road forum in Beijing struck a chord with executive councillor Margaret Leung – who said the leader’s remarks on a global community with a shared future for all resonated with her in particular.

“I think the biggest message that I get from President Xi today is what he said, that the initiative is brought up by China, but he expects the benefits to be shared for the common good of the entire world”, Leung said in Beijing after listening to Xi’s address.

The president had said China stands against “unilateral sanctions, economic coercion, decoupling and supply chain disruption”, adding that "our lives will not be better and our development will not be faster if we view the development of others as a threat and economic interdependence as a risk."

Leung said the increasing connectivity under the Belt and Road Initiative will hopefully give rise to a more open global economy that will better facilitate trade and business among all Belt and Road countries.

“There are lots of things that are already happening in the trade side among all the countries that are participating and hopefully there will be more countries participating as well,” she told RTHK.

“I’m sure there will be more initiatives in driving international trade, barrier-free trade, and also taking away of all the restrictions and sanctions against each other, which doesn’t exist at the moment and hopefully, it will not exist in the rest of the world as well.”