CCTV:

China's import and export to countries along the Belt and Road's routes outpaced the global average over the past year. Were there any highlights you'd like to share? What new measures have China's customs taken in jointly building the Belt and Road Initiative? Thank you.

Li Kuiwen:

Thank you for your questions. Last year marked the eighth anniversary of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). Since the BRI was put into action, the trade relationship between China and BRI-participating countries has been increasingly close. Data from China's customs showed that in 2021, China's import and export to countries along the routes reached 11.6 trillion yuan, up 23.6%, 2.2 percentage points higher than the overall growth rate of China's foreign trade in the same period. Of this, exports reached 6.59 trillion yuan, up 21.5%; imports totaled 5.01 trillion yuan, up 26.4%. That growth is mainly down to the following aspects.

First, the trade volume has grown steadily. From 2013 to 2021, China's total import and export volume with countries along the routes increased from 6.46 trillion yuan to 11.6 trillion yuan, with an average annual growth rate of 7.5%, and its share in China's total foreign trade increased from 25% to 29.7% in the same period.  

Second, the cooperation of the industrial and supply chains has tightened. From 2013 to 2021, the proportion of intermediate products in China's exports to BRI-participating countries increased from 49.8% in 2013 to 56.2% in 2021. The export of auto parts, textiles, and lithium electronic batteries increased by 26.7%, 14.1%, and 50.4%, respectively, in 2021.

Third, the cooperation in energy, agriculture, and mineral resources has gained momentum. In 2021, China imported 1.18 trillion yuan of crude oil from countries along the routes, an increase of 44%; 326.55 billion yuan in agricultural products, up 26.1%; 212.77 billion yuan in metal ores, up 24.9%; and 185.45 billion yuan in natural gas, up 38.9%.

Fourth, private enterprises have been active. In 2021, the import and export of private enterprises to BRI-participating countries reached 6.21 trillion yuan, an increase of 25.6%, accounting for 53.5% of China's overall import and export to those countries during the same period, an increase of 0.8 percentage point.

Last year, we mainly did the following work to jointly promote high-quality BRI cooperation.

First, we have stepped up efforts to promote the "Smart Customs, Smart Borders, and Smart Connectivity" Initiative. Chinese President Xi Jinping called for deepening customs cooperation to ensure trade security and faster clearance and exploring cooperation on a pilot basis under the "Smart Customs, Smart Borders, and Smart Connectivity" Initiative while hosting the China-CEEC Summit on Feb. 9, 2021. China's customs have resolutely implemented the important instructions of President Xi and promoted reform and development of the customs service fully in line with the initiative. A guideline has been formulated and implemented to strongly combine the initiative and high-quality BRI development, so as to realize "one plus one is greater than two." Until now, we have launched 78 global cooperation projects, most of which involve countries along the routes.

Second, we have formulated a work plan to promote the high-quality development of the BRI cooperation during the 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021-2025). The year 2021 was the inaugural year of China's 14th Five-Year Plan. To accomplish the work for the year in a scientific and effective way, the GACC has formulated this plan by adopting a problem-oriented and objective-oriented approach. We have achieved coordinated development with a focus on the key countries, sectors, and projects. Under the "Smart Customs, Smart Borders, and Smart Connectivity" Initiative, we have ramped up efforts to promote the joint development of the BRI cooperation, thereby offering wisdom and strengths to the modernization of the national governance system and capabilities. 

Third, we pragmatically pushed forward key projects. We have made every effort to promote "Authorized Economic Operator" (AEO) mutual recognition and cooperation with countries that are willing to jointly build the Belt and Road. In 2021, we overcame the impact of the pandemic and signed AEO mutual recognition agreements with five countries jointly building the Belt and Road — Serbia, Chile, Iran, Uganda, and South Africa. By the end of 2021, China customs had signed AEO mutual recognition agreements with 31 countries jointly building the Belt and Road. In addition, we pragmatically promoted the "Customs-Train Operators Partnership for Secure and Expedited Clearance of CR Express Carried Goods (C-TOP)," and signed cooperation documents with Kazakhstan and Belarus on the C-TOP program to support the development of China-Europe freight trains, further expand connectivity and cooperation, and promote unimpeded trade. Thank you.