Facts and figures: Belt and Road Initiative

BEIJING,April 29,2019 --The Belt and Road Initiative,proposed by China in 2013,aims at building a trade and infrastructure network connecting Asia with Europe and Africa along the ancient trade routes of the Silk Road to seek common development and prosperity.

President Xi Jinping and foreign dignitaries pose for a photo following the leaders' roundtable at the Second Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation in Beijing,April 27,2019. [Photo by Feng Yongbin/China Daily]

Let's take a look at some key figures about the initiative.

China has signed cooperative documents with 126 countries and 29 international organizations.

The China-Europe freight trains,connecting China with 50 cities in 15 countries,carried out more than 14,000 trips by the end of March.

The goods trade volume between China and countries involved in the initiativesurpassed $6 trillion from 2013 to 2018,with an average annual growth rate of 4 percent.

Chinese companies' direct investment in countries involved in the initiative surpassed $90 trillion from 2013 to 2018,with an average annual growth rate of 5.2 percent.

China has signed currency swap agreements with more than 20 countries involved in the initiativeand established renminbi clearing arrangements with seven countries.

Silk Road e-commerce is becoming a new channel for economic and trade cooperation between countries. China has established the bilateral e-commerce cooperation mechanism with 17 countries.

The total value of new foreign contracts signed with countries involved in the initiativesurpassed $600 billion,with an average annual growth rate of 11.9 percent.

So far,the overseas economic and trade cooperation zones Chinese enterprises have built in countries involved in the initiativehave created about 300,000 local jobs,with total investment of more than $30 billion.

By the end of 2018,China Export & Credit Insurance Corp realized total insurance amount of more than $600 billion in countries involved in the initiative.

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https://www.chinadaily.com.cn/a/201904/25/WS5cc27d15a3104842260b8909.html

Roundtable talk: Belt and Road Forum raises expectations

The Second Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation will be held in Beijing from April 25 to 27. This summit will be highly important in terms of its participation and depth of issues under discussion. It is expected that representatives from 100 countries and regions will attend the event. Preparations are at their peak,as it will be a major diplomatic event in Beijing and the Chinese government grants it very high importance.

Today,China Daily invites guests from various walks of life and from different countries involved in the Belt and Road Initiative to talk about how they viewed the BRI and what they are expecting from the upcoming forum. Stay tuned for more!

Host: Song Jingyi

Guest: Misbahul Ferdous; Anastasia Sukhoretskaya

Producer: Zhang Chunyan; Song Wei

Supervisor: Wang Hao; Han Lei

Cover picture for the video

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