(Economic Observation) Helping the recovery of the global economy play the "Belt and Road" chorus

　　China News Service, Beijing, November 23 (Reporter Liu Liang) The Central Committee of the Communist Party of China recently held a press conference to introduce the spirit of the Sixth Plenary Session of the 19th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China.

Chinese officials stated that in the face of the intertwined influence of the century-old changes and the epidemic of the century, China is willing to continue to play the "Belt and Road" chorus with other countries to help the global economy recover.

　　2021 is the 8th anniversary of China's joint construction of the "Belt and Road" initiative.

Over the past eight years, the “Belt and Road Initiative” has continued to grow and become a well-received international public product and platform for international cooperation.

Official data show that so far, China has signed more than 200 cooperation documents for the joint construction of the “Belt and Road” with 140 countries and 32 international organizations.

　　Under the current century of change and the epidemic situation of the century, the international cooperation of the “Belt and Road” has further demonstrated strong resilience.

Under the severe pressure of the global epidemic last year, the trade volume of goods between China and the countries along the “Belt and Road” reached US$1.35 trillion, a year-on-year increase of 0.7%, accounting for 29.1% of China’s total foreign trade.

　　At the same time, during the epidemic, a series of major projects such as the China-Laos Railway and the Hungary-Serbia Railway have made breakthrough progress.

In 2020, the number of China-Europe freight trains and freight volume increased by 50% and 56% year-on-year; China's non-financial direct investment in countries along the route increased by 18.3% year-on-year.

　　“Since the outbreak of the epidemic, some projects have been affected, but it is China’s responsibility to help the co-building of the country respond to the epidemic and restart the development process.” Deng Boqing, deputy director of the China International Development Cooperation Agency, pointed out that in the crisis of the epidemic, China has stood up. Then, it has injected impetus into the global implementation of the sustainable development agenda.

The joint construction of the "Belt and Road" not only did not press the "pause button", but went against the trend. The enthusiasm of all countries to participate in the "Belt and Road" is still high, and the willingness to join hands in promoting global development cooperation is still strong.

　　ASEAN, which bucked the trend and became China's largest trading partner, is an important “model” for cooperation under the “Belt and Road” initiative.

Xu Ningning, executive director of the China-ASEAN Business Council, pointed out that in the process of jointly building the "Belt and Road", the two sides have opened up their markets to each other, and the economic integration and joint development have not only boosted the economic growth of China and the ten ASEAN countries, but also deepened the good-neighborly friendship between the two sides. It also promoted the process of economic integration in East Asia and contributed to the growth of the world economy.

　　2021 is the first year of China's "14th Five-Year Plan".

Standing at the new historical coordinate point, the official stressed that the “Belt and Road” is still an important development map.

　　Han Wenxiu, deputy director of the Office of the Central Committee of Finance and Economics in charge of daily work, pointed out that China will unswervingly promote the high-quality development of the “Belt and Road” so that the “Belt and Road” construction will continue to adapt to the new situation and present a new atmosphere.

This includes actively carrying out cooperation in the fields of green infrastructure, green energy, and green finance, and working with the international community to help low-income countries alleviate debt problems, support countries along the route to develop a digital economy, bridge the "digital divide", and strengthen innovation cooperation.

　　Talking about the model of co-building the “Belt and Road”, Han Wenxiu emphasized that “the joint construction of the “Belt and Road” is not a solo of China, but a chorus of building a country.” He pointed out that at present, infrastructure in the world, especially in developing countries. There is a huge investment gap, and all countries need to be open to international cooperation initiatives that are conducive to strengthening interconnection and achieving common development.

　　The outside world has also written new expectations for the future joint construction of the "Belt and Road".

Xu Ningning said that at present, joint anti-epidemic and economic recovery are still the two major themes of the "Belt and Road" cooperation.

He analyzed that in the fight against the epidemic, China and ASEAN have further enriched the results and content of the cooperation in the construction of the "Belt and Road", and more and more effective new cooperation models have emerged as the times require, in order to continue to advance a larger scale, higher level, and The deeper "Belt and Road" cooperation has laid a more solid foundation.

　　"The spirit of openness and cooperation demonstrated by the Belt and Road Initiative is what is most needed to deal with this global epidemic crisis and the limited growth rate of the world economy." Economic Partnership Agreement) opening up brings new opportunities, on the other hand, we must jointly cope with the challenges brought about by the sluggish world economic growth and the spread of the global epidemic.

The in-depth cooperation between all parties through the "Belt and Road" will further benefit the development of all countries and inject more impetus into the recovery of the world economy.

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