China News Service, Beijing, October 24 (Reporter Wei Xi) Hu Biliang, Executive Dean of the One Belt One Road College of Beijing Normal University, said in an interview with reporters on the 24th that under the new crown pneumonia epidemic, the construction of the “Belt and Road” has indeed encountered many specific problems this year. The reality is difficult, but it also shows strong resilience and tenacious vitality.

　　Hu Biliang said that the new crown pneumonia epidemic has had a huge impact on all aspects of the world, and the construction of the "Belt and Road" has also been affected by some unfavorable factors. This impact is not only short-term, but also involves the medium and long-term development of the "Belt and Road" construction. problem.

As long as we assess the situation, proceed from reality, and have a deep understanding of the phased characteristics of the "Belt and Road" construction, we can grasp the direction, overcome difficulties, and seize new opportunities in a complex environment.

　　Hu Biliang believes that the new crown pneumonia epidemic has brought at least the following two difficulties:

　　First of all, the epidemic has forced many countries in the world to close their national doors for a certain period of time, strictly restricting the flow of production factors such as personnel, equipment, and raw materials from other countries into their own countries. The global supply chain industry chain has been blocked and broken, causing some "Belt and Road". Construction projects have stopped or under-started because the supply of production factors cannot keep up.

Therefore, the construction speed of some construction projects has to be slowed down and the construction period has to be extended.

　　Secondly, from a macro perspective, the new crown pneumonia epidemic has caused the global economy to shrink, the economic growth of developing countries has rapidly declined, and the national fiscal revenue has been greatly reduced. Therefore, in the next few years, there will be some support for major construction projects in terms of funding and other resources. decline.

From a micro level, some companies and their developed projects, industrial parks, etc. have already experienced relatively serious losses. In addition, they cannot get timely support and assistance from the government of the country where the project is located, and are facing the risk of bankruptcy.

　　However, Hu Biliang emphasized that the “Belt and Road” construction has shown strong resilience and tenacious vitality.

The data shows that the number of China-Europe trains and freight volume have not declined, but have continued to rise against the trend; e-commerce has played a very positive role in promoting the development of trade in the epidemic. Under the international cooperation framework of the “Belt and Road”, China In the past few years, we have actively carried out the construction of "Silk Road E-commerce" with countries along the "Belt and Road".

　　Hu Biliang pointed out that in the early stages of the global pandemic of the new crown pneumonia epidemic, the construction of the “Belt and Road” project was basically temporarily suspended due to its direct impact, but most of the construction projects were quickly resumed.

Some projects not only did not stop during the epidemic, but also accelerated the construction speed under the premise of good epidemic prevention work, such as the Groche Mekong Bridge in Cambodia, so the bridge will be completed ahead of schedule.

　　The smooth progress of the “Belt and Road” construction is also reflected in the trade cooperation between China and ASEAN.

　　Hu Biliang said that since the first quarter of this year, ASEAN has surpassed the EU and become China's largest trading partner.

Data from January to August show that the total value of trade between China and ASEAN was US$416.55 billion, a year-on-year increase of 3.8%. my country and ASEAN are each other's largest trading partners.

　　Hu Biliang analyzed that there are three main reasons for such positive changes this year: First, China and ASEAN have performed well in epidemic prevention and control and support each other, especially the opening of "fast channels" to facilitate personnel exchanges; Taking full advantage of this year’s new crown pneumonia pandemic to give rise to the development of new industries and new business forms, while seizing the opportunity this year is the China-ASEAN Digital Economic Cooperation Year, the two sides are actively carrying out the "China-ASEAN Information Port" and "China-ASEAN Business Communication" The construction of e-commerce trade such as the construction of a digital platform has directly promoted the rapid development of bilateral trade; the third is to promote trade with investment. In the first half of this year, China invested 6.23 billion US dollars in ASEAN, a significant increase of 53.1% year-on-year, accounting for China’s “One Belt One Road” initiative. 76.7% of the total investment of countries along the route has also contributed to the accelerated development of bilateral trade to a certain extent.

　　In addition, despite the raging epidemic this year, the growth of investment and trade between China and countries along the “Belt and Road” still maintains a good momentum.

Hu Biliang believes that by adhering to the direction of high-quality development, the "Belt and Road" construction has a promising future.

(Finish)