the foundation of the belt and road initiative was built due to hundreds of years of efforts made by several pioneers in history. the an-cient silk road served as a road not only for trade but also for multi-fac-eted exchanges among europe, asia, and africa. due to the limitations of natural conditions and the scarcity of resources, as well as the low level of productivity at that time, it was not yet possible to achieve direct interactions or even perceive the existence of each other for the civiliza-tions of ancient europe, asia, and africa, which were formed and devel-oped independently in isolation. however, it’s a law of history for them to extend arms to explore the outside world, so there gradually emerged indirect information transmission and cultural and commercial exchang-es.

in the han dynasty of china, around the year of 140 bc, a peace corps from chang’an began to explore the road to the west from the east and finally completed the so called “maiden expedition,” widely known as “zhang qian’s mission to the western regions”. later on, in 97 ad, gan ying, a chinese military ambassador was sent on a mission to daqin where he started the sea and land trade between china and rome. in the yuan dynasty, italian traveler marco polo also left a historic mark on the silk road. in the ming dynasty in the early 15th century, zheng he, a famous chinese navigator, led seven different voyages to the west-ern ocean (indian ocean), earning a remarkable reputation for his vast influence on the silk road. generations of pioneers on the silk road built a bridge of cooperation, trust, and peace between the east and the west, and left their names in history because what they relied on was not horses or spears, but camels and goodwill, not warships and cannons, but treasure ships, and friendship.

in 1793, the british empire sent the macartney embassy (also known as the macartney mission) to china.

although the original intention of these official visits from china might not be trade-oriented, the trade and cultural exchanges between the east and the west was ultimately promoted by chinese pioneers of the silk road represented by mission-type envoys via both land and sea routes. the western pioneers included the persian merchants described in the travels of marco polo and the mission led by george macartney.