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BEIJING, May 16-- The Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation (BRF) concluded here Monday, and officials and experts said the forum has strengthened international trade ties and sounded a call against protectionism. The forum has strengthened international trade ties and sought new channels of distributing goods to bring about mutual benefit for all, said Ignacio Martinez Cortes, head of the Research Laboratory for Trade, Economy and Business. "It is also a call against protectionism," Martinez Cortes said in an interview with Xinhua in Mexico. China's new commercial strategy will allow Latin America and the Caribbean to join this drive of "opening up, inclusiveness and mutual benefits," said the Mexican expert on China affairs when talking about the two-day forum held in Beijing. The Belt and Road Initiative breaks with both regionalism and corporate-driven global supply chains and will benefit Latin America in the two fields of raw materials and added-value technologies, he said. The initiative "is the gateway" to international free trade and sustainable development, and also "more focused on investment, infrastructure and development, instead of just on trade," he said. "Through this initiative, China is offering new channels, which is focused on strengthening partnerships and on the success of sustainable development," the expert said. The Belt and Road Initiative was proposed by Chinese President Xi Jinping in 2013 with an aim to build a trade and infrastructure network connecting Asia with Europe and Africa along and beyond ancient trade routes. | 
