CCTV:
I have a question about the BRI. It can be said that economic and trade cooperation is an important part of the BRI. In the first half of this year, what progress was made in BRI economic and trade cooperation? Thank you.
Guo Tingting:
Thank you for your question. Since General Secretary Xi Jinping put forward the major proposal of developing BRI through joint efforts, MOFCOM has earnestly implemented the decisions and arrangements of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council, and constantly deepened BRI economic and trade cooperation. This has achieved remarkable results. In the first half of this year, MOFCOM strived to overcome the impacts of the pandemic and made new progress in promoting BRI economic and trade cooperation, making new contributions to the high-quality development of BRI. This is mainly reflected in the four following aspects:
First, unimpeded trade developed fast. In the first half of this year, the trade volume of goods between China and countries along the Belt and Road expanded by 27.5% year-on-year to 5.35 trillion yuan, higher than the overall growth of and accounting for 29.6% of the country's foreign trade. MOFCOM actively promoted the integrated development of new business forms and models of foreign trade (such as cross-border e-commerce and overseas warehouses) and major trade passageways, and steadily facilitated the construction of the New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor. In the first half of this year, China-Europe freight trains made 7,377 journeys and distributed 707,000 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU) of goods, up 43% and 52%, respectively. The accumulative freight train journeys exceeded 41,000, reaching 168 cities of 23 European countries.
Second, investment cooperation continued to deepen. In the first half of this year, China's non-financial direct investment in countries along the Belt and Road grew by 8.6% to 62 billion yuan, increasing its share in the country's total outbound investment to 17.8%. The turnover of contracted projects in countries along the Belt and Road reached 254.67 billion yuan, making up 57.9% of the national total. Steady progress was made in overseas projects and the construction of industrial parks. Enterprises settled in the China-Belarus Industrial Park totaled 71, and projects such as Jakarta-Bandung High-Speed Railway, Budapest-Belgrade Railway and Colombo Port made active headway. At the same time, 2,775 new enterprises were established in China by countries along the Belt and Road, with a direct investment of 39.11 billion yuan, up 67.8% and 49.6% year-on-year, respectively.
Third, the development of free trade zones proceeded steadily. So far, China has signed seven free trade agreements with 13 countries along the Belt and Road. In April, China formally deposited its ratification instrument of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) agreement with the ASEAN Secretary-General, becoming one of the first countries to complete the ratification procedures. Currently, countries like Singapore and Japan have also deposited their ratification instruments. All parties are pushing for the agreement to become effective on January 1, 2022. To help localities and businesses make good use of RCEP, MOFCOM held two thematic national online training sessions, with more than 66,000 participants and more than 70% of them being enterprise representatives. In addition, we actively considered joining the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), signed a protocol on upgrading the China-New Zealand Free Trade Agreement, and actively promoted negotiations on the China-Gulf Cooperation Council Free Trade Agreement and China-Japan-South Korea Free Trade Agreement, among others.
Fourth, the mechanisms and platforms have become more complete. The Ministry of Commerce actively promotes the establishment of trade and investment cooperation mechanisms with relevant countries. The ministry has established working groups for smooth trade with 15 countries and investment cooperation working groups with 42 countries. In addition, the ministry has established 14 mechanisms for cooperation in trade in services. We actively developing "Silk-Road E-commerce" and promote the establishment of bilateral e-commerce cooperation mechanisms with 22 partner countries. At the same time, we have successfully held important expos such as the China International Consumer Products Expo, the 129th session of the China Import and Export Fair (Canton Fair), and the China-Central and Eastern European Countries (CEEC) Expo, which effectively boosted economic and trade exchanges with relevant countries and regions.
In the next step, the Ministry of Commerce will continue to implement the decisions and plans of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council, adhere to the principles of extensive consultation, joint contribution and shared benefits, and uphold the philosophy of open, green and clean cooperation. In order to make Belt and Road cooperation high-standard, people-centered and sustainable, we will continue to do a good job in the epidemic prevention and control of overseas projects and personnel, strengthen international cooperation on COVID-19 response, and promote the and upgrading of Belt and Road trade and investment. With these measures, we hope to make new contributions to promoting the high-quality development of the Belt and Road Initiative and build a community with a shared future for mankind. Thanks.
