A collection of essays, The Belt and Road Initiative Through Diplomats' Eyes, has been published recently, offering an engrossing account of China's diplomatic journey told through the firsthand experiences of those who have helped shape it.

The book features contributions from 38 retired ambassadors and counselors who share stories of life abroad, Sino-foreign friendship, mutual learning between civilizations, and win-win cooperation, while also documenting the local customs, mindsets and transformations of countries involved in the BRI across Asia, Europe, Africa and Latin America.

Through the eyes of those participating in the undertaking, the book highlights the BRI's crucial role in promoting mutual understanding and cultural exchange.

During the book's launch in late March, held by the International Liaison Department of the China Writers Association and the Writers Publishing House, Wu Yiqin, vice-chairman of the association, said that it is a timely literary work with a unique theme and great practical significance.

According to him, the China Writers Association initiated a literary network of the BRI in 2021. To date, 36 literary organizations and 26 individuals from 42 countries have joined the alliance, contributing literary strength to the promotion of cultural exchange and mutual understanding. The Belt and Road Initiative Through Diplomats' Eyes is an outcome of this network.

Wu adds that the book serves not only as a cultural window into the BRI but also as a spiritual bridge inspiring global cooperation in building a community with a shared future for mankind, offering the international community a fresh perspective for understanding China's solutions to various issues.

One of the book's chief editors Zhou Xiaopei, former director-general of the Department of European-Central Asian Affairs at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, who once worked in Russia, Poland, Kazakhstan and Ukraine, says the book is a collection produced for the first time through collaboration between the retired diplomats' writing association of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the retired personnel of the poetry society of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, and the Writers Publishing House.

Zhou adds that it is a "Silk Road memoir" by veteran diplomats looking back on their careers, marking the first systematic literary project in China's public diplomacy to document firsthand narratives by diplomatic representatives of the country.