China News Service, November 12th. Ren Hongbin, Assistant Minister of Commerce, revealed on the 12th that from January to September, the trade volume of goods between China and the countries along the “Belt and Road” was 6.75 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 1.5%, which was 0.8 higher than the overall increase in foreign trade. percentage point.
The Information Office of the State Council held a regular policy briefing of the State Council on the 12th, inviting Ren Hongbin, Assistant Minister of Commerce, to introduce the "Implementation Opinions of the General Office of the State Council on Promoting the Innovation and Development of Foreign Trade".
Ren Hongbin introduced the basic situation of the "Belt and Road" initiative seven years ago.
From 2013 to 2019, the total trade volume of goods between China and countries along the “Belt and Road” exceeded US$7.8 trillion; direct investment in countries along the route exceeded US$110 billion, and the value of newly signed contract projects was nearly US$800 billion; countries along the route were actually used Nearly 50 billion US dollars of foreign capital; a number of infrastructure interconnection and industrial cooperation projects have been implemented, which has strongly promoted the economic and social development of relevant countries and the improvement of people's livelihood.
Since the beginning of this year, the "Belt and Road" economic and trade cooperation has remained generally stable and better than expected.
From January to September, the trade volume of goods between China and countries along the route was 6.75 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 1.5%, which was 0.8 percentage points higher than the overall increase in foreign trade; the actual use of foreign capital from the countries along the route was 39.11 billion yuan (excluding data on reinvestment through free ports), an increase 7.7%; non-financial direct investment in countries along the route was US$13.02 billion, an increase of 29.7%.
In recent years, with the deepening of the “Belt and Road” construction, the central and western regions are gradually moving from the hinterland to the forefront of opening up, playing an increasingly important role in the development of my country's foreign trade.
From 2013 to 2019, the import and export of the central and western regions accounted for the country's share, from 13.1% to 17.1%.
This is also an important indicator for optimizing the domestic regional layout in the "five optimizations".
Ren Hongbin said that in the next step, the Ministry of Commerce will continue to adhere to the principle of extensive consultation, joint contribution and shared benefits, uphold the concept of green, open, and clean, and in accordance with high standards, people’s livelihood, and sustainable goals, deepen economic and trade cooperation and promote joint construction. The “Belt and Road Initiative” is going deep and solid, and stable and far-reaching.
The Ministry of Commerce will focus on supporting the in-depth integration of the central and western regions into the “Belt and Road” construction from three aspects, promote the opening of the central and western regions on a larger scale and at a higher level, and promote the new development of foreign trade in the central and western regions.
One is to build more open platforms.
Promote the construction of open platforms such as free trade pilot zones, national economic development zones, and cross-border e-commerce comprehensive pilot zones in the central and western regions, support the central and western regions to participate in important exhibitions such as the International Import Expo, the Canton Fair, and the processing trade fair, and help the central and western regions to undertake Industrial transfer and development of international markets.
The second is to unblock foreign trade channels.
Promote China-Europe Express to undertake more shipping and air transportation to transfer cargo sources, and promote the central and western regions to strengthen trade with countries along the route.
Accelerate the construction of new international land-sea trade channels, promote the improvement of multimodal transport mechanisms, and unblock the large south-bound channel connecting Southeast Asia and Central Asia.
The third is to improve the economic and trade cooperation mechanism.
Establish more unimpeded trade working groups, service trade international cooperation mechanisms, and e-commerce cooperation mechanisms to help enterprises in the central and western regions solve difficulties and problems encountered in foreign trade in a timely manner.