Discussed the importance of the "the Belt and Road" International Cooperation Summit Forum as the top-level mechanism, priority direction and key platform of the "the Belt and Road" initiative. The profound impact of the Summit Forum on the global governance system and international cooperation process was emphasized, and it was pointed out that there is insufficient research in the academic community on the institutionalization of the Summit Forum. The article reviews the establishment process and reasons of the Summit Forum, explores its institutionalization process and current situation, evaluates its achievements, and puts forward suggestions for promotion.

1、 The process and reasons for the establishment of the the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation

Elaborated on the establishment process and reasons of the "the Belt and Road" International Cooperation Summit Forum. The strategic planning of the Chinese government, the accumulation of experience in exploring professional mechanisms, the support of existing international cooperation foundations, and the need to eliminate mechanism overlap or issue conflicts have jointly promoted the establishment of the summit forum. In 2014, the Chinese government proposed to hold the summit forum, aiming to build a high-level dialogue platform, correctly interpret the core values of the "the Belt and Road", build consensus, and point out the direction for practical cooperation. The mechanism construction in the fields of investment, financing, and infrastructure has provided a driving force for the mechanism design of the summit forum. From 2013 to 2017, more than 100 countries and international organizations around the world actively responded to the "the Belt and Road" initiative, laying a cooperative foundation for China to host the Summit Forum. In order to standardize the "the Belt and Road" foreign exchange platform, China has issued relevant notices, proposing to establish a comprehensive, high specification mechanism to lead. In 2017, Xi Jinping announced that China would host the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation, marking the commitment of the institutionalization of the Belt and Road Initiative to promoting international cooperation and demonstrating China's firm determination to unite, assist, and cooperate with other co building countries.

2、 The institutionalization process and status quo of the the Belt and Road International Cooperation Summit Forum

The first "the Belt and Road" International Cooperation Summit Forum was held in Beijing in 2017, marking important progress in institutionalization and multilateralism of "the Belt and Road" cooperation. The forum achieved 279 cooperative outcomes, promoting integration with existing international mechanisms. The second summit forum was held in 2019, further strengthening the internal mechanism construction, expanding the "forum+follow-up conference" mode, and initiating the establishment of a professional field multilateral cooperation platform. Despite the impact of the COVID-19 and the US containment of China, the cooperation platform of the Summit Forum has gradually expanded, the forms of cooperation have continued to innovate, and the results of cooperation have continued to deepen. In 2023, China will hold the third summit forum with the goal of "building the the Belt and Road into a happy road", focusing on development issues, breaking development bottlenecks and sharing development achievements. The institutionalization of the summit forum has achieved phased results, and the mechanism platform has gradually shifted from informal to formal. Guided by openness and aiming at sharing, the Summit Forum has become an action guide for jointly building international cooperation on the "the Belt and Road". The number of participating members and node countries in the summit forum has significantly increased, the mechanism field continues to expand and deepen, the geographical scope continues to expand and extend, and the mechanism types are beginning to move towards formalization and materialization. Focusing on green, energy, financing, trade and other fields, the Summit Forum has formed a three-dimensional layout and comprehensive coverage mechanism network to promote high-quality joint construction of the "the Belt and Road".

3、 Assessment of the achievements of the the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation

The "the Belt and Road" International Cooperation Summit Forum is a specialized interactive mechanism for collective dialogue between China and co building countries, which reflects China's advanced role in global governance. The summit forum has established a comprehensive, multi-level, and three-dimensional core mechanism, and its achievement evaluation is not only based on Western standards such as normative consensus, compliance effectiveness, and goal effectiveness, but also combined with mechanism concepts and entities, from the aspects of value guidance, agenda setting, and rule making. The summit forum has created a new cooperation framework that is open, inclusive, balanced, and inclusive, promoting the concepts of high standards, benefiting people's livelihoods, and sustainability, leading inclusive globalization and true multilateralism. The summit forum coordinates and complements existing mechanisms, coordinates bilateral and multilateral efforts, and creates a "bilateral coordinated multilateralism" model. It adheres to inclusive globalization and true multilateralism, sets topics on an equal footing, opens up discussions on topics, and voluntarily reaches agreements, promoting the construction of a new model of international and regional cooperation. The summit forum combines practicality and practicality, adhering to the concepts of sovereign equality, strategic trust, and voluntary obedience, leading inclusive globalization into a new era. The Summit Forum is an exploration and successful practice of the concept of advocating institutionalization, reflecting the new values of a community with a shared future for mankind, and using new governance concepts to promote deep global governance. The Summit Forum is designed to solve the problems faced by cooperation between countries, interact with multinational collectives through round table summits and specialized sub forums, strengthen the strategic alignment between the "the Belt and Road" initiative and countries, and deepen cooperative partnerships. As the core hub of the Summit Forum, the Leaders' Round Table Summit plays a strategic leading role in top-level design, makes overall planning around the "the Belt and Road", and provides overall plans and targeted arrangements. The functions of multilateral platforms in professional fields continue to enhance, with symbolic, gradual, and substantive functions, easing the tension between the strategic status enhancement and participation in global governance of countries along the Belt and Road. The Summit Forum has become the highest specification, the most influential and the most far-reaching international cooperation platform under the framework of the "the Belt and Road". Balancing consensus based pragmatism and flexible cooperationism, and achieving effective interaction between globalism, regionalism, and regionalism are key links to improve the global, regional, peripheral, and bilateral governance structures, and help build a new type of international relations featuring mutual respect, fairness, justice, and win-win cooperation.

4、 Suggestions on further institutionalization of the the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation

Discussed the problems in the process of institutionalization of the the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation, and put forward suggestions for further institutionalization. The current summit forum has problems such as high degree of informality, imbalanced mechanisms, and strong politicization, lacking binding force and fixed participants, and lacking coordination institutions. To promote the institutionalization construction, it is suggested to strengthen the capacity building of mechanisms such as policy coordination, information sharing, openness and transparency, risk prevention, and supervision and implementation. The "Charter of the Summit Forum" should be released, relevant committees and working groups should be established, a secretariat or upgraded liaison office should be set up, the frequency of holding should be determined, and an international cooperation database should be established. At the same time, it is necessary to establish systematic, holistic, and three-dimensional thinking, improve support mechanisms, docking mechanisms, and follow-up coordination mechanisms, prepare for ministerial level meetings, establish follow-up action committees and senior officials' meetings, strengthen the institutionalization of sub forums, hold regional dialogue meetings, strengthen the construction of docking mechanisms, and give full play to the role of advisory committees. In addition, it is necessary to strengthen the concepts of internationalization, equality, and openness, enhance the sense of ownership of jointly built countries, attract more countries to participate, downplay political and Chinese led colors, and allow countries and related parties along the route to participate in rule research and mechanism establishment. Following the method of starting from simplicity to complexity, starting from easy to difficult, and solidly promoting, we aim to enhance the mechanism guidance of multilateral cooperation platforms in professional fields, establish special meetings and working groups, formulate policies and operational rules, and promote the implementation of the results of the summit forum. After more than six years of mechanism building, the Summit Forum has become the core mechanism for international cooperation along the "the Belt and Road". It should focus on further mechanism reform, strengthen organizational coordination, planning and guidance, clarify issues and highlight priorities, and form a multi-level, wide-ranging and integrated mechanism system.