Starting in Greece and finishing in Switzerland, my journey to focus on how European countries are responding to the Belt and Road Initiative （一带一路），which President Xi Jinping raised five years ago.
Patiently talking with about 100 politicians, officials, thinkers, lawyers, businesspersons and looking for stories in airports, factories and building sites during the early 40 days have made the journey more enlightening. These modem Silk Road messengers in Europe had accepted Xi's plan as Beijing prepared to host the first-ever international cooperation forum （合作论坛）on May 14th — 15th.
The interviews have enriched my understanding even though I have been closely noticing this initiative since its announcement （公告），aiming to connect Europe, Asia and Africa.
Talks with former Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi well states my major findings: by calling it a century project that will benefit half humanity, he says Europeans are competing with each other to find synergies （合并效果）with China's Belt and Road Initiative.
Italy has recently cooperated with the ZTE in a 1-billion-dollar project in improving its telecommunication infrastructure （电信基础设施）and preparing the country for the 5G era. This means improving cooperation even has opportunity in the developed economies if both sides decide to do so.
Nearly all the rich countries in Europe are members of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank （亚洲基础设施投资银行）and through it, they will find more cooperation opportunities.
