建设“21世纪海上丝绸之路”这样一个规模宏大的多元化合作机制，首先必须对其进行准确的定位，同时探讨它在新的历史环境和新的国际体系中可能的作用、路径和机制。海上丝绸之路是一个国际性的贸易经济体系，它具有多元性、多样性、多中心的鲜明特征。它产生的互联互通和国际直接投资的效应，将激励亚洲的国际分割生产和生产网络的发展，这也正是“建设命运共同体”所具有的内涵。因此，在推动“21世纪海上丝绸之路”合作机制建设的过程中，除了更加积极地供给公共产品和负起地区大国责任之外，中国也应当始终坚持“多元性、多样化、开放性”的原则。
The Ancient Maritime Silk Road was a complex and multi-cultural trade network which stretched across three continents. This decentralized trade network offered a well-functioning economic system，extending far into inland，connecting the domestic markets and production networks，shaping the “world economy” system in the Indian Ocean region. However，after the Western colonizers showed up in the Indian Ocean，they completely changed the nature of the Maritime Silk Road，making this network a permission-required waterways and a tool for colonial economic system. Regions of Maritime Silk Road were transformed into the peripheral region of the European economy. Therefore，one of the main targets for Maritime Silk Road is the collective revival of these regions. This revival will surely be rooted in the changes of production systems and production networks. In recent decades，marginalized Asian countries had once gradually integrated into the global value chain due to the Asian production networks. However，this process was imbalanced and of obvious vulnerability. Many countries and regions have yet to be incorporated into a genuine production network. Out of the need of further improving and expanding the Asian production network，a platform which could enable marginalized countries and regions to rise more quickly in trade and production systems is increasingly needed. In this sense，“21st Century Maritime Silk Road” can also be regarded as an effort to reshape the Asian production networks.
In order to build the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road，China’s strategic goals also should be adjusted accordingly. The main purpose of this initiative is to share the fruits of growth of China with its neighboring countries. Thus the trend that China becomes the supplier of regional public goods and let neighboring countries to be the “free rider” is taken for granted. China should always adhere to the principle of “pluralism，diversity，openness” and China will never become the new overlord of the Maritime Silk Road. Maritime Silk Road was not，and will be never controlled by any particular country. It will always belong to a more fair and rational international economic order.
