(2017年5月10日)
The Belt and Road Initiative, announced by President Xi Jinping in 2013, is a Chinese proposal for global development and cooperation and represents China’s commitment as a responsible major country. The BRI takes extensive consultation, joint contribution and shared benefits as its principle, and is characterized by openness, inclusiveness, and win-win nature. Aiming to build a community of shared future for mankind, it is warmly welcomed by over 100 countries and international organizations along the routes, as it meets their desire for development and cooperation.
Connectivity of trade is an important element in jointly contributing to the BRI. Since its inception, we have made major progress in promoting trade flows and deepening commercial cooperation, most notably in the following five aspects:
In terms of trade, we have promoted mutual market opening and trade facilitation. We have harnessed such platforms as China-ASEAN Expo, China-South Asia Expo, China-Eurasia Expo, and China-Arab States Expo to encourage businesses to work together and tap into the opportunities generated. Between 2014 and 2016, China’s trade transaction with countries along the routes was over RMB20 trillion, which grew faster than the global average.
In terms of investment, we keep improving services to encourage businesses to invest in countries along the routes. Between 2014 and 2016, Chinese businesses have made USD47 billion outbound direct investmentin non-financial sector and signed project contracts worth USD304.9 billion in countries along the routes. We have further eased market access for foreign investment and built an international standard business environment to attract investment from countries along the routes.
In terms of major project development, we have worked with relevant parties in launching a series of major projects. The construction of China-Laos railway, the second phase of Karakoram Highway and Karachi Highway in Pakistan has already started. The development and operations of China-Russia, China-Kazakhstan and China-Myanmar oil and gas pipelines have progressed smoothly.
In terms of overseas trade and economic cooperation zones, Chinese enterprises have established 56 overseas trade and economic cooperation zones in 20 countries along the routes, with a cumulative investment exceeding USD18.5 billion, creating more than USD1.1 billion of taxation and 180,000 jobs for the host countries. China-Belarus Industrial Park has become a pearl on the Silk Road Economic Belt. The development of Egypt Suez Economic and Trade Cooperation Zone, China-ThailandRayong Industrial Zone, Cambodia Sihanoukville Special Economic Zone and other parks enjoy good progress.
In terms of Free Trade Areas (FTAs), we have already signed Free Trade Agreements with ASEAN, Singapore, Pakistan and other countries and regions along the routes. The upgraded protocol of the China-ASEAN Free Trade Agreement has been implemented since last July. China is about to sign a Free Trade Agreement with Georgia and is now actively promoting Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership negotiations and FTA negotiations with Israel, the Maldives, Sri Lanka and the Gulf Cooperation Council.
At present, products made in China, projects built by China and services provided by China have become more and more popular with countries along the routes. More products, services, technologies and capital from countries along the routes are steadily flowing into China. It is fair to say that these tangible outcomes of trade and economic cooperation have injected new dynamism to economic development of countries along the routes, added new momentum to the development of an open world economy and offered new models for deepening economic globalization.