BackinMarch2011,thefirstChina-EuropefreighttraindepartedfromTuanjieVillageStationinsouthwestChina’sChongqingMunicipalityforDuisburg,Germany.Thejourneyisthreetimesfasterthanshippingroutes,andcostsone-fifththatofairfreight.
Sincetheseinternationaltrains-andmanyothers-havebeenputintooperation,freighthasseenanincrease.AsoftheendofAugust,China-Europefreighttrainshavetraveledmorethan10,000times,serving43citiesin15Europeancountries,withanaveragecargoloadof85percent.
ThesenewraillinesareanimportantpartoftheBeltandRoadInitiative,putforwardbyChinesePresidentXiJinpingin2013.Whilesomecountriesareupholdingprotectionism,China,foritspart,seekstorevivethelegacyofhistorictraderoutesbytransformingthemintoamodernexampleofinclusivegrowthandtranscontinentalcooperation.
Fiveyearson,morethan100countriesandinternationalorganizationshavesignedcooperationagreementswithChinaunderthisinitiative.StatisticsfromtheNationalDevelopmentandReformCommissionshowthatasofSeptember7,Chinahadsignedmemorandaofunderstandingwith37AfricancountriesandtheAfricanUniononjointlydevelopingtheBeltandRoad.ManycountriesandregionsalongtheBeltandRoadrouteshaveconsideredaligningtheinitiativewiththeirowndevelopmentplans.Severalmajorinternationalorganizations,suchastheUnitedNations,haveevenadoptedtheinitiative’scoreconceptssuchasconcertation,synergyandsharing.AnincreasingnumberofAfricanstudentschoosetostudyinChinaontheChinesegovernmentscholarshipprogramJUHUANZONGInfrastructureconnectivity
Inadditiontopolicycoordination,thelastfiveyearshavealsoseenthedevelopmentoftheBeltandRoadInitiativeinotheraspects,beitinfrastructureconnectivity,unimpededtrade,financialintegration,andstrengthenedpeople-to-peopleties.InfrastructureconnectivityisoneofthemajorobjectivesoftheBeltandRoadInitiative.AccordingtoAlexeyMaslov,DirectoroftheSchoolofAsianStudiesattheNationalResearchUniversityofRussia,infrastructureconnectivityhasbeenthemostsuccessfulareaofcooperationundertheinitiative.
HesaidthattherehasbeenasignificantexpansionofinvestmentininfrastructureprojectsinEurope,Asiaandotherregions.Thisalsoincludesinfrastructuredevelopmentinareaswheresuchprojectswerevirtuallynon-existentbefore,suchastheChina-PakistanEconomicCorridor.
RaphaelTuju,SecretaryGeneralofKenya’srulingJubileeParty,agrees.HebelievesthattheBeltandRoadInitiativehasbroughtaboutarealboominthedevelopmentofmoderninfrastructureinAfricancountries,suchastheMombasa-NairobiStandardGaugeRailway(SGR)inKenya,theAddisAbaba-DjiboutiRailway,andtheMaputoBridgeinMozambique.
TujunotedthattheBeltandRoadInitiativehasbeenvitalasithasopenedupthehinterland.Accordingtohim,the480-km-longMombasa-NairobiSGRputsKenyainagoodpositiontoadvanceitsindustrialagendaandbecomearegionaltradingplatform.
Unimpededtrade
Whenitcomestotrade,oneoftheprioritiesoftheBeltandRoadInitiative,resultsareequallyconvincing.AccordingtostatisticsreleasedbytheMinistryofCommerceofChina,asofJune2018,China’stradeingoodswithcountriesparticipatinginBeltandRoadconstructionexceeded$5trillion,andChinahasbecomethelargesttradingpartnerof25participatingcountries.
Itshouldbenotedthattradegoesinbothdirections.AccordingtoathinktankofChina’sStateCouncil,China’simportsfromBeltandRoadcountriesgrewfasterthanitsexportstothesesamecountriesforthefirsttimein2017.Infact,whileChina’simportsfromthesecountriesamountedto$666billion,ayear-on-yearincreaseof20percent,importsreached$774billion,ayearon-yearincreaseof8.5percent.
Inaddition,overthepastfiveyears,China’sdirectinvestmentincountriesalongtheBeltandRoadroutesexceeded$70billion,withanaverageannualgrowthrateof7.2percent.Atthesametime,Chineseenterpriseshaveestablished82overseaseconomicandtradecooperationzonesincountriesalongtheBeltandRoadrouteswithinvestmentcombiningto$28.9billion.Theinvestmentshavecreated244,000localjobsandgenerated$2.01billionintaxrevenueforthesecountries.
Financialintegration
Aspartoftheinitiative,financehasalsobeenidentifiedasakeyareatosupporttheconstructionofbusinessnetworksandinfrastructureconnectivitybetweenparticipatingcountries.AccordingtotheAfricanDevelopmentBank’s2018AfricanEconomicOutlook,thecontinentneeds$130to$170billionayeartofinanceitsinfrastructuredevelopment,andhasacurrentshortfallofabout$68to$108billion.
ToaddressthisissueandbetterfinancedevelopmentprojectsaspartoftheBeltandRoadInitiative,ChinahasfoundedtheSilkRoadFundwitharegisteredcapitalof$40billioninDecember2014.
Threeyearslater,anadditional100billionyuan($14.6billion)wasallocatedbytheChineseGovernmenttothefund.Bytheendof2017,thefundhadalreadylauncheditsfirstinvestmentcyclebyallocatingapproximately$7billionto17projects.
Strengthenedpeople-topeopleties
Chinahasactivelylaunchedcooperationprojectsinthefieldsofeducation,scienceandtechnologyaspartoftheBeltandRoadconstruction.ThroughtheimplementationoftheSilkRoadScholarshipProgram,ChinahasestablishededucationalinstitutionsabroadtotrainmanagementprofessionalsforcountriestakingpartintheBeltandRoadconstruction.
Inaddition,thereweremorethan300,000studentsfromparticipatingcountriesstudyinginChinain2017;atthesametime,morethan60,000ChinesestudentswerestudyingincountriesalongtheBeltandRoadroutes.
TourismisalsoanareaboostedbytheBeltandRoadInitiative.Itisestimatedthat,by2020,thenumberoftouristscomingandgoinginbothdirectionsbetweenChinaandcountriesalongtheBeltandRoadwillexceed85million;andthetourism-relatedconsumptioncouldbeashighas$110billion,accordingtotheInformationOfficeofChina’sStateCouncil.AtasymposiumheldinBeijinginlateAugustmarkingthefifthanniversaryoftheBeltandRoadInitiative,PresidentXihighlightedthewayforward.
Lookingforward
AccordingtoXi,thenextsteptomovetheinitiativeforwardistoachievehigh-qualitydevelopment.Heurgedpartnerstomakeeffortstoaccomplishfullandsolidcooperationwithintheframeworkoftheinitiativeinordertobenefitpeoplesinthecountriesconcernedandtobuildacommunitywithasharedfutureformankind.Healsoencouragedtheuseofnon-governmentalfundstoinvestininfrastructureprojectsandtocontinuetodevelopmarketsabroad,whilemaintaininganadequatebalanceoftrade.
Moreover,whileaddressingtheopeningoftheBeijingSummitoftheForumonChina-AfricaCooperation(FOCAC)onSeptember3,XicalledforthealignmentoftheBeltandRoadInitiativewiththeAUAgenda2063andtheUnitedNations2030AgendaforSustainableDevelopment,aswellasthedevelopmentstrategiesofvariousAfricancountries.
Thiscallhasnotbeenunheard.Inaspeechatthesameevent,AUCommissionChairpersonMoussaFakiMahamatsaid:“Weneedtomaximizesynergiesbetween[theAU]Agenda2063andtheBeltandRoadInitiative.”
“BycombiningtheChina-ledinitiativewithinfrastructureconstructionacrossAfrica,suchasrailways,roadsandotherdevelopmentprograms,thecontinentwillbebetterintegratedwiththeglobaleconomy,”saidDenisSassou-N’guesso,PresidentoftheRepublicoftheCongo.
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