China News Agency, Moscow, January 15th. On the 15th, Chinese Ambassador to Russia Zhang Hanhui published a signed article in the Russian "Labor Daily".

The article mentioned that the "One Belt One Road" initiative brings hope to countries along the route to fight the epidemic and rejuvenate their economies.

  Zhang Hanhui said that in the context of the continuous raging new crown pneumonia epidemic and the deep recession of the world economy, the accelerated stabilization of the Chinese economy has become the biggest benefit of the global economic recovery.

The “Belt and Road” international cooperation initiated by China has also shown strong resilience and vitality, and has played an important role in fighting the epidemic, stabilizing the economy, and protecting people's livelihood.

As of December 23, 2020, 138 countries and 31 international organizations have signed 203 cooperation documents for jointly building the "Belt and Road" with China.

"One Belt One Road" has undoubtedly become the world's largest pragmatic cooperation platform and the most popular emerging international public product.

  Zhang Hanhui said that at present, the joint construction of the "Belt and Road" project is continuing to operate under the premise of strict epidemic prevention, and a number of new projects have been launched, which has increased the confidence of relevant countries in fighting the epidemic and restoring the economy.

From 2013 to 2019, the trade volume between China and its “Belt and Road” partners increased from US$1.04 trillion to US$1.34 trillion. In 2020, under the influence of the epidemic, this indicator will continue to grow by 1.5% against the trend.

In the first half of 2020, China-Europe freight trains will operate 5122 trains, an increase of 36% year-on-year, becoming a life channel for the delivery of anti-epidemic supplies and an important support for maintaining economic and trade exchanges. In the first 10 months of 2020, Non-financial direct investment reached US$14.11 billion, a year-on-year increase of 23.1%.

  Zhang Hanhui said that Russia is an important partner in the joint construction of the "Belt and Road" cooperation.

At present, the “Belt and Road” construction and the cooperation of the Eurasian Economic Union are advancing steadily.

In 2020, China-Russia pragmatic cooperation has not slowed down under the impact of the epidemic, and new progress has been made in many areas.

In the first three quarters, Russia's agricultural exports to China increased by 15.8% against the trend, China's non-financial direct investment in Russia increased by 7.4%, and trade with the Russian Far East increased by 4.3%.

A large number of large-scale energy and interconnection demonstration projects such as the China-Russia East Route Natural Gas Pipeline, Yamal LNG Project, and China-Europe Railway Express have strongly promoted China-Russia cooperation in the construction of the “Belt and Road”.

The two sides have overcome the impact of the epidemic and completed ahead of schedule the goal of the two-way study abroad exchange personnel to exceed 100,000.

The joint construction of the “Belt and Road” has not only opened up new space for the economic growth of China and Russia, built a new platform for trade and investment cooperation, but also provided new opportunities for enhancing cultural exchanges.

(Finish)