SCIO briefing on 'The Belt and Road Initiative: Progress, Contributions and Prospects'
Speakers:
Xiao Weiming, director general of the Department of General Affairs at the Office of the Leading Group for Promoting the Belt and Road Initiative;
Song Lihong, director general of the Comprehensive Department at the Ministry of Commerce
Chairperson:
Hu Kaihong, spokesperson for the State Council Information Office of China
Date:
April 22, 2019
Hu Kaihong:
Ladies and gentlemen, good afternoon and welcome to this press conference. Today, the Office of the Leading Group for Promoting the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) issued "The Belt and Road Initiative: Progress, Contributions and Prospects," and its text has been published by the Xinhua News Agency. To offer more information about the document, we are delighted to welcome two of the officials involved to update you on the development of the BRI and to answer your questions. They are Mr. Xiao Weiming, director general of the Department of General Affairs at the Office of the Leading Group for Promoting the Belt and Road Initiative; and Mr. Song Lihong, director general of the Comprehensive Department at the Ministry of Commerce. Now, I'll give the floor to Mr. Xiao.
Xiao Weiming:
Ladies and gentlemen, friends from the press, when General Secretary Xi Jinping visited Central Asia and Southeast Asia in 2013, he proposed the initiative of jointly building the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, known for the Belt and Road. This has received a positive response and widespread support, and has been followed with great interest by the international community. To promote the implementation of this major initiative, the Chinese government has set up a leading group and established the Office of the Leading Group for Promoting the Belt and Road Initiative within the National Development and Reform Commission.
Ahead of the second Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation (BRF), being approved by the Leading Group for Promoting the Belt and Road Initiative, the Office of the Leading Group has released the book "The Belt and Road Initiative: Progress, Contributions and Prospects." This is the third time for the Chinese government to publish the progress of BRI project construction, which is also one of the major achievements of the second BRF. From an objective, rational and fair perspective, the report has summarized the experience of building the BRI over more than five years as a way to further enhance the international community's understanding of this joint building initiative, and to promote mutual political trust, economic integration and people-to-people connectivity among different countries. The BRI also aims to work together with the international community to cope with the challenges facing the global economy, to create new development opportunities, to seek new driving forces for development, to realize advantageous complementarities and mutual benefits, and to work together toward the jointly building of the community with shared future for mankind — so that a new journey of BRI construction can soon be embarked upon.
The report contains around 18,000 words and consists of four parts: Preface, Progress, Contributions, and Prospects. It will be published in Chinese, English, French, Russian, German, Spanish, Arabic, and Japanese. Today, I will present the Chinese and English versions to you. The other six versions will be issued soon.
The report pointed out that the BRI adheres to the principle of joint construction through consultation to bring benefits to all, and has achieved remarkable results in the past five years. All participants have benefited from the BRI and have a growing sense of identity and engagement with the initiative. This corresponds with an old Chinese saying: the peach and the plum do not speak, yet a path is born beneath them (a sincere man attracts admiration).
In terms of policy coordination, the Belt and Road Initiative and its core concepts have been written into relevant documents of organizations including the United Nations, the G20, APEC and other regional organizations. So far, China has signed more than 170 cooperation documents with more than 150 countries and international organizations, including the China-Mongolia-Russia cooperation plan, and bilateral cooperation plans with Kazakhstan, Cambodia, Laos, Czech Republic, Hungary and Brunei.
In terms of facilities connectivity, the construction of six international economic cooperation corridors has been steadily advanced, playing an important role in establishing and strengthening interconnected partnerships among countries and building an efficient and smooth market for Asia and Europe. The China-Laos Railway, the Sino-Thai Railway, the Jakarta-Bandung high-speed railway, and the Hungary-Serbia high-speed railway have all solidly advanced. Projects such as Gwadar Port, Port of Hambantota, Port of Piraeus and Port of Halifa are progressing smoothly. Significant progress has been made in energy cooperation ¬– electricity, oil and gas, nuclear power, new energy, coal, etc. – and the construction of cross-border optical cable information channels. As of the end of March, the China-Europe freight rail service network has exceeded 14,000 trips.
In terms of smooth trade, China launched the Initiative on Promoting Unimpeded Trade Cooperation along the Belt and Road -- so far, 83 countries and international organizations have been actively involved. China has signed or upgraded the free trade agreements with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), Singapore, Pakistan, Georgia and other countries and regions. Since the first Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation, China has signed more than 100 customs inspection and quarantine cooperation documents with countries along the route, and has achieved food quarantine access for more than 50 kinds of agricultural products.
In terms of financial and monetary integration, China, together with 27 countries, has endorsed the Guiding Principles on Financing the Development of the Belt and Road. The People's Bank of China has worked with multilateral development institutions to finance over 100 projects stretching across more than 70 countries and regions. The China-IMF Capacity Development Center and the Belt and Road Financial Development Research Center have been inaugurated. So far, 11 Chinese banks have established 76 first-level institutions in 28 countries along the Road. The cross-border RMB payment services have expanded to cover nearly 40 countries and regions along the Road.
In terms of people-to-people ties, China established the Silk Road Chinese government scholarships, and signed agreements with 24 countries along the Belt and Road route granting mutual recognition of higher education degrees and diplomas. China also concluded visa abolition agreements with 57 countries along the Belt and Road covering different types of passports, and reached 19 agreements with 15 countries to simplify visa procedures. The country also established overseas traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) centers and 43 bases for international cooperation on TCM in 35 countries along the Belt and Road.
In terms of industrial cooperation, from 2013 to 2018, direct investment from Chinese enterprises to countries along the route hit US$90 billion and the turnover of foreign contracted projects surpassed US$400 billion. China has signed capacity cooperation agreements with more than 40 countries and signed third-party market cooperation agreements with France, Italy, Spain, Japan and Portugal, to name a few.
The report stresses the initiative is from China, but it belongs to the world. It is rooted in history, but oriented towards the future. It focuses on the Asian, European and African continents, but is open to all partners. In a world undergoing major development, transformation and adjustments; peace, development and cooperation still remain the trend of the times. While the BRI projects are currently being carried out in a steadily and meticulous manner, China stands ready to work with all the parties to promote the implementation of BRI, turning the Belt and Road into a route of peace, prosperity, openness, green, innovation, civilization and integrity. Thank you.
Hu Kaihong:
Thank you, Mr. Xiao. Now, let's welcome Mr. Song to make an introduction.
Song Lihong:
Friends from the media, good afternoon. Today, the Office of the Leading Group for Promoting the Belt and Road Initiative launched the book "The Belt and Road Initiative: Progress, Contributions and Prospects."I'd like to take this opportunity to introduce the trade cooperation under the Belt and Road Initiative, as the former is an important part of the latter.
Since the proposal of the Belt and Road Initiative, the Ministry of Commerce, guided by Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era and fully implementing the Party Central Committee's policy decisions on the initiative, has worked hard to promote trade cooperation between China and other countries along the routes, and made remarkable achievements. These are evident in five aspects.
First, two-way trades were increased continuously. We actively promoted the expansion of mutual market openness of countries along the routes of the Belt and Road Initiative, and continued to promote trade facilitation. We improved trade structure, and nurtured new areas of trade growth. We also strengthened trade promotion activities with countries along the routes through comprehensive and special exhibitions. We accelerated the innovation of trade forms, and nurtured new models of business, such as e-commerce.
Between 2013 and 2018, the imports and exports between China and other countries along the Belt and Road exceeded US$6 trillion, registering an annual increase of 4%, which is higher than the increase in China's total foreign trade. The volume accounted for 27.4% of China's total trade in goods.
Second, two-way investments are developing in an in-depth way. We continue to strengthen the necessary service guarantees and encourage enterprises to invest in relevant Belt and Road countries. While realizing their own development, they can also help the host countries to develop their economy and improve local people's livelihood. At the same time, we continue to relax the permission procedures for foreign investment as part of creating a high-standard business environment, set up 12 free trade pilot zones open to the world, and explore the construction of free trade ports to attract countries along the Belt and Road to invest in China. From 2013 to 2018, Chinese enterprises directly invested more than US$90 billion in countries along the Belt and Road, with an average annual growth rate of 5.2%. The turnover of foreign-contracted projects along the Belt and Road has exceeded US$400 billion, while direct investments in China from Belt and Road countries has exceeded US$40 billion.
Third, big projects have been carried out and are producing their intended results. We, along with relevant parties, have launched a series of cooperation projects to build infrastructure facilities and industrial investment. Some big projects have been carried out as planned, one after another. For example, the Addis Ababa-Djibouti Railway has come into operation; the China-Maldives Friendship Bridge has opened to traffic; the Gwadar Port in Pakistan has acquired the capacity necessary to ensure its complete operation. There are so many such infrastructure facility projects, which have effectively promoted the host countries' economic development and the improvement of local people's livelihoods, making them popular among locals.
We have also actively co-built some economic and trade cooperation zones, which have developed and improved over time. These zones play the following roles: they provide Chinese enterprises with platforms for their overseas investment and development; they provide the host countries with opportunities to learn more from China's experience in using industrial parks to boost economic growth; and they also prove to be effective carriers for industrial cooperation between China and these countries.
Fourth, the construction of free trade areas has sped up. We have expedited the construction of free trade areas with countries along the route of the Belt and Road, and signed or upgraded the free trade agreements with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, Pakistan and other countries and regions. These agreements have provided effective institutional arrangements for the liberalization and facilitation of trade and investment between these countries and China.
It is fair to say that a free trade zone network has gradually taken shape along the route of the Belt and Road. In addition, we have also actively promoted regional economic cooperation. We have signed trade and economic cooperation agreements with the Eurasian Economic Union, and the negotiations on regional comprehensive economic partnerships have made positive progress.
Fifth, the cooperation mechanism has improved. The Ministry of Commerce has built bilateral economic and trade committee as well as joint committee mechanisms with all countries related to the Belt and Road Initiative. Meanwhile, we also have some regional and sub-regional cooperation platforms. We take advantage of these platforms to strengthen communication and coordination on important Belt and Road topics.
At the same time, to further strengthen the frequency and effects of coordination, we have built work groups on unimpeded economic and trade cooperation, and investment with relevant countries, under the bilateral committees and joint committees. We have created bilateral e-commerce business cooperation mechanisms with 17 countries, and service trade cooperation mechanisms with 14 countries, as well as signed third party market cooperation agreements with Japan, Spain, the Netherlands, Belgium, etc. All this can be seen in media reports.
Generally speaking, the economic and trade cooperation between China and the countries involved in the BRI have improved greatly. Since the Belt and Road Initiative was proposed six years ago, it has produced remarkable achievements, intensified economic ties, and deepened economic cooperation between China and its partner countries. The initiative has also helped China improve its development through opening-up, and also prompted relevant countries to integrate into regional or even global value chains. This has allowed it to make positive contributions toward the development of economic globalization and the open world economy. Thank you all.
Hu Kaihong:
Thank you, Mr. Song. Now, we open the floor to questions. Please identify the news organization you represent before asking your question.
