HOUSTON - The United States can benefit from China's Belt and Road Initiative in terms of infrastructure, Brian Lantz, senior executive of a think tank, said Friday.

The China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative involves more than 70 countries, and not only the Chinese people, but the whole world can derive benefits from it, said Lantz, who works for the Executive Intelligence Review of the Schiller Institute, an international political and economic think tank.

"The new silk road can be the world bridge," he said during a conference organized by Rice University in Houston. "We need to get on board."

Lantz quoted a recent report of the American Society of Civil Engineers as saying that there is a $2 trillion deficit in infrastructure in the country.

He noted that, with the help of investment and the technology of China's high-speed rail, the United States can repair and rebuild its railway system, especially in the middle area of the country, which could bring momentum to the cities there.

China's Deputy Consul General in Houston Zhao Yumin introduced the Belt and Road Initiative to the audience, emphasizing that China believes misunderstandings can be reduced through communication and negotiation on the basis of equality.